In the near future, the 7th Guards Division of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) will receive the 15M107 Foliage Remote Demining Vehicle (MDR), the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry. This compound is deployed in the Bologovsky district of the Tver region.
“The Foliage remote clearance vehicle is designed to detect mine-explosive devices with metal elements and to destroy engineering munitions and improvised explosive devices containing electronic components,” the military department website says.
Previously, this complex entered service with the units of the 39th Guards Missile Division (Novosibirsk Region), the 42nd Missile Division (Sverdlovsk Region) and the 54th Guards Missile Division (Ivanovo Region). As noted in the Ministry of Defense, "Foliage", created specifically for the Strategic Missile Forces, during the command and staff exercises "proved its effectiveness."
According to the previously announced plans of the military department, by 2020, about 20 remote clearance vehicles should be transferred to strategic missile forces. Deliveries of “Foliage” are carried out in divisions equipped with Yars mobile ground missile systems.
MDR is an armored car on which special electronic equipment is installed. The hardware developer is the holding Roselektronika (part of Rostec). The production of "Foliage" is deployed at the facilities of JSC "Krasnodar Instrument Plant" Cascade ".
Failure or undermining
The main purpose of the “Foliage” is to protect the column of armored vehicles accompanying the Yars from combat patrol routes from undermining. During exercises with the use of MDR, the method of remotely clearing munitions, which, according to legend, was laid by the enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group (DRG), is regularly developed.
On combat duty, “Foliage” goes ahead of the column, actually replacing the sapper unit. According to officers of the Strategic Missile Forces, the machine markedly increased the speed of the vehicles guarding the Yars.
- “Foliage” during the exercises of the 42nd Tagil Missile Division of the Strategic Missile Forces (Sverdlovsk Region, Svobodny, March 28, 2018)
- © Alexey Zakvasin / RT
Before its appearance in a mined area, the convoy covered only 1 km in 9 minutes. The military does not name the current speed indicator, but notes that the "maneuvering actions" of the unit protecting the carrier of nuclear weapons have become more effective.
The technical capabilities of the “Foliage” make it possible to detect explosives at a distance of up to 100 m and carry out clearance at a distance of up to 70 m. Machine equipment is capable of neutralizing mine-explosive devices with metal elements, engineering ammunition, and home-made bombs with electronic components.
To neutralize artisanal explosive devices made using mobile phones, Foliage emits radio signals at frequencies characteristic of civilian electronics. Ammunition detonation occurs when it falls into the area of action of emitters.
“Mine action of explosive devices with electronic components is ensured by electromagnetic radiation generated by the electromagnetic complex as part of the microwave and ultra-wideband installations, in this case the electronic components of the fuses are disabled, blocked or detonated,” the RF Ministry of Defense explains.
Detection of mines and landmines is carried out by a wide-field induction search module, detonation is carried out by a complex of microwave radiation (UHF). "Foliage" literally burns out the electronic filling of ammunition, rendering them unusable.
If the search module found a bomb devoid of electronics (for example, a mine of push action), then the sappers decide on mine clearance or controlled detonation. The explosion occurs at a safe distance for the column and the missile system.
The calculation of “Foliage” consists of five people: a commander, a driver, two sappers and an operator of electronic equipment. To protect against harmful radiation from the MDR antennas, military personnel wear special Screen-2B suits. Also, to increase the safety of the crew in the design of the machine there are elements that reduce the negative effects of electromagnetic pulses (in particular, copper plates).
In an interview with RT, the chief editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Victor Murakhovsky, called “Foliage” in demand in the Strategic Missile Forces.
“The microwave radiation module provides functional damage to the electronics of explosive devices. This is a powerful electromagnetic signal that overloads the circuits of any explosive devices. Such a unique instrument of our army is necessary, first of all, in the interests of ensuring the combat alert of the Strategic Missile Forces, ”Murakhovsky said.
Inexpensive and effective
“Foliage” is one of the few samples of military equipment based on new physical principles in the world. We are talking about the so-called electromagnetic weapons, which have a devastating effect on the enemy’s electronics - semiconductors, transistors, boards and microcircuits.
Earlier in an interview with the Zvezda television channel, the deputy general director of the Kaskad plant, Anatoly Maslov, said that the MDR is a development that has no analogues in the world. According to him, the microwave module was used by the United States Army in the Iraq campaign, but it was not used to eliminate landmines and mines.
According to Rostec, the scope of the potential use of Foliage is wide enough, as the machine is suitable for surveying roads, detecting and destroying ammunition. In particular, Foliage can protect motorized rifle units of the RF Armed Forces, armored vehicles and convoys during the march.
- A column of armored vehicles of the Novosibirsk Strategic Missile Forces
- RIA News
- © Alexander Kryazhev
Experts also believe that the complex in various modifications will be in demand in other branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In addition to motorized rifle units, the “Foliage” and its unique equipment can be used in the engineering forces and air defense units, which specialize in the fight against small-sized enemy UAVs.
“Microwave radiation is a promising technology. It may come in handy and the Russian air defense system. As a result of the rays, the drone’s electronics are disabled and it falls to the ground. To destroy such drones, it is impractical to use rockets, and a device that generates a high-frequency signal of high power will become an inexpensive and effective means of defense, ”says Murakhovsky.
In a RT commentary, military expert Dmitry Litovkin predicts that the practice of applying microwave radiation will be quite widespread in the Russian army. According to the expert, already now the energy of electromagnetic pulses is used not only to suppress electronics, but also to guide missiles.
As an example, the analyst cited the domestic self-propelled anti-tank complex "Chrysanthemum-S". This is the only weapon in its class in the world that can be used in the absence of optical visibility. Microwave elements are present in the design of supersonic missiles.
“The supply of Foliage is another step in the development of domestic electronic systems. Now the machine is in service with the Strategic Missile Forces, but the Russian army needs to master the technology of microwave radiation and remote clearance methods. I think that similar equipment will appear in other troops of our country, ”Litovkin emphasized.