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Analysis: Russian Ground Forces build up air defense - Part 1

The Russian Ground Forces have radically mounted air defense capabilities of late. However, they lag behind the Aerospace Forces. It is interesting to know which weapons will defend Armata, Kurganets and Boomerang against aircraft, drones and precision weapons, the Independent Military Review writes.
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Shilka air defense system (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The current organizational matrix of the Ground Forces does not differ from the Soviet one. Each motorized rifle or tank regiment has an antiaircraft missile-artillery battalion comprising batteries of Shilka self-propelled guns (sometimes Tunguska), Strela-10 complexes and MANPADS.

Combined arms brigades also have an additional antiaircraft battalion. It was initially armed with Osa-AKM, but they were later replaced by modern Tor.

Motorized rifle and tank divisions have antiaircraft missile regiments. They were also armed with Osa which was replaced by Tor.

A combined arms army has an antiaircraft missile brigade armed with Buk. However, not all the armies had the brigades until recently. There was the same situation with antiaircraft brigades of military districts armed with S-300V. The Western district had such a brigade, but the Far East and the Caucasus did not operate it.

The design of new aircraft guns for the Ground Forces was reported in late 2017. Commander of the air defense of the Ground Forces Lieutenant-General Alexander Leonov said Shilka would be replaced by an artillery gun with innovative projectiles. It will destroy tactical drones, single MLRS projectiles, cruise missiles, precision weapons, tactical airplanes and fire support helicopters, ground and sea light armor. The gun has a low signature due to passive reconnaissance, detection and tracking means. The commander did not disclose the name of the weapon and the time for its acceptance into service. However, it is known today that he spoke about Derivatsya-PVO antiaircraft artillery gun. It was demonstrated to the public at the Victory Day parade in 2020.

Derivatsya fires several types of projectiles. Besides high-explosive fragmentation shells, it can launch munitions with remotely-controlled explosion. Uralvagonzavod said at Army-2020 the gun creates a cloud of fragmentation in the meeting place with an air or ground target. The projectile has an electronic remote contact detonator. The fire control automatically sets the time of the blast to create a cloud of fragmentation in the assigned place. Publications about Derivatsya often mention guided smart projectiles. The Defense Ministry also mentioned them.

Guided 57 and 76mm projectiles already exist in the world. The 76mm DART shell of Leonardo Italian company is an example. It has aerodynamic fins. They change the position upon a command to change the trajectory and maneuver. Designers said the projectiles can destroy even supersonic antiship missiles.