The outgoing year will be remembered for several high-profile premieres of the latest domestic weapons.

The greatest resonance in Russia and abroad, according to experts interviewed by RT, was made by the presentation of the Checkmate single-seat light tactical aircraft (LTS) or Su-75.

The general public first learned about this project in the second half of July, when the International Aviation and Space Salon - 2021 was held in Zhukovsky near Moscow.

In mid-November, the fighter made its debut at the Dubai Airshow 2021 international exhibition.

Sukhoi designers developed the fighter on their own initiative.

First of all, Checkmate is aimed at a foreign buyer, but it can also be supplied to Russian videoconferencing systems.

The first flight of the car is scheduled for 2023.

The United Aircraft Corporation expects that about 300 new aircraft will be produced in the next 15 years.

The assembly of the first copies of Checkmate is organized at the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

In the future, it is planned to produce two-seat and unmanned modifications.

LTS, like the Su-57, belongs to the fifth generation of military aircraft, but the Su-75 is smaller and differs in the presence of a single-engine power plant.

However, despite the more modest size and weight, Russian designers intend to endow Checkmate with serious fighting qualities.

The Su-75 should become a carrier of solid missile and bomb armament and small drones.

The Su-75's payload will be 7,400 kg, its range will be 1,500 km, the flight range without outboard fuel tanks will be at least 2,800 km, and the speed will be up to 1.8-2 Mach numbers.

The fighter will be equipped with an AFAR (active phased array) radar.

The onboard equipment of the aircraft will allow it to simultaneously fire at up to six air targets and track up to 30. At the same time, the price of the aircraft will be significantly lower than the rest of the fifth generation, including the American F-35.

In an interview with RT, the founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev noted that the very fact of working on a fifth-generation light multifunctional fighter can be safely considered "a serious step forward in our aviation industry."

“Yes, so far we have only seen a full-size model, and Russian designers have to do a colossal amount of work, but there really is a niche for such a machine both abroad and in our troops,” the expert believes.

"The LTS concept proposed by Sukhoi is so versatile that it is hypothetically capable of replacing almost the entire range of combat aircraft of operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Federation and other countries of the world," Kornev emphasized.

Based on the Syrian experience

Experts also called the unique helicopter-type reconnaissance and strike vehicle (UAV-VT), which was named "Termit", a significant premiere in the field of domestic unmanned aviation.

The drone was first presented to the public at the end of August at the Army-2021 International Military-Technical Forum.

On the sidelines of this exhibition, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation signed the first contract with the manufacturer for the supply of this drone to the troops. 

Termit is the brainchild of a special design bureau of the Strela research and production enterprise (part of Kronshtadt JSC) and the Kalashnikov concern, which creates weapons for UAV-VT.

  • UAV "Termit"

  • RIA News

  • © Evgeny Biyatov

As Boris Trunov, head of the Strela special design bureau, explained earlier in an exclusive commentary to RT, Termit is the only Russian military unmanned helicopter in its class.

According to him, the platform is designed to fire unguided and corrected aircraft missiles.

UAV-VT is capable of effectively hitting stationary and mobile targets with known coordinates.

Also "Termit" got the opportunity to conduct the so-called free hunt, when you need to independently detect and defeat enemy forces.

For the most accurate destruction, the drone will soon receive an S-8L missile with a laser homing head of 80 mm caliber.

“The target is captured by the operator.

He puts it on escort, then the drone acts autonomously: artificial intelligence algorithms embedded in the logic of the weapons control system are turned on.

But at the same time, the operator makes the final decision on the launch of the rocket.

Thanks to the S-8L, the UAV-VT can destroy single and group ground mobile and stationary targets, ”explained Trunov.

In addition to "Termit" in the outgoing year, "Kalashnikov" was noted for a novelty in the field of small arms.

At Army-2021, the concern presented a prototype of a new submachine gun, which will be included in the arsenal of pilots and special forces, and is also scheduled for export.

The product is being created on the basis of the experimental PPK-20, but in smaller dimensions.

It is assumed that the submachine gun will become part of the wearable emergency stock (NAZ) - a set of weapons and special equipment - necessary for the survival of the pilots of the Aerospace Forces during ejection.

The brainchild of the concern is designed to increase the pilot's self-defense capabilities.

As the head of the Kalashnikov directorate for military-technical cooperation, Vladimir Onokoi, said in September in a commentary to RT, the submachine gun is being developed based on the experience of the Syrian operation, during which Russian pilots, after ejection, were sometimes forced to land in territory controlled by gangs.

According to the military expert, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin, this year significant progress has been made in the development of the non-strategic anti-missile defense anti-aircraft missile system (SAM NPRO) 98Р6Е "Abakan".

This air defense system was presented abroad for the first time this year.

The premiere took place at Dubai Airshow 2021.

“This year, as far as I can tell, we managed to make serious progress in its development.

This is a very important project for our defense industry in the field of defense against ballistic missiles and other means of aerospace attack, ”Litovkin said.

Abakan creates the team of the Almaz-Antey concern.

According to the manufacturer, the operation of this air defense system expands the potential of the air defense grouping - missile defense of any country in the world to repel a massive attack with ballistic missiles.

  • Rocket launch from the air defense system of the RF Armed Forces

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

"Abakan" consists of a multifunctional reconnaissance and target designation radar for guidance of 98L6AE Yenisei-E missiles, as well as a 51P6E2 self-propelled launcher mounted on a BAZ-69096 chassis.

The brainchild of "Almaz-Antey" can be integrated into any air defense system - missile defense.

The complex is capable of performing combat missions both autonomously and as part of any medium and long-range air defense systems as an additional anti-missile defense module.

It is assumed that the Abakan will mate with the Buk-M3, S-300 or S-400 air defense systems.

Despite the pandemic

In the outgoing year, new items of Russian military equipment appeared not only at exhibitions, but also at exercises.

So, at the strategic maneuvers "West-2021" in September, the capabilities of the remote mining engineering system (ISDM) "Agriculture" were publicly demonstrated.

This sample of military equipment was manufactured by specialists of JSC "Scientific and Production Association" SPLAV "named after

A.N.

Ganicheva (part of the Tekhmash concern).

To date, this machine has no analogues either in Russia or abroad, the developer claims.

The system consists of a truck with launch containers and a transport-loading vehicle with a crane-manipulator, mounted on a high-mobility chassis.

The uniqueness of "Agriculture" lies in the ability to "sow" up to 15 hectares of territory with launches from all 50 guides.

The maximum mining range of the ISDM is estimated at 15 km.

"Fire" is carried out by programmable anti-tank or anti-personnel ammunition that meet all the requirements of international conventions.

According to Dmitry Kornev, the outgoing year has become quite rich in premieres of promising Russian military equipment, although the coronavirus pandemic as a whole continues to have a negative impact on the activities of the Russian defense industry and somewhat narrowed the presence of domestic weapons abroad.

“In 2021, the negative aspects associated with the coronavirus made themselves felt.

So far, apparently, there is no getting away from this.

However, it is obvious that Russia tried to hold the necessary events abroad in full-time format and organized MAKS and Army-2021 at a decent level, having managed to attract a lot of foreigners to participate, "Kornev argues.

  • ISDM "Agriculture" at the Victory Parade

  • RIA News

  • © Evgeny Odinokov

Viktor Litovkin is more optimistic about the results of the outgoing year.

According to the expert, sanitary restrictions did not have a significant impact on the implementation of the most important projects of the domestic defense industry and the course of exhibitions.

“In my opinion, this year was remembered for a large number of premieres.

In promising Russian developments, the emphasis is on automation and the creation of remotely controlled samples that can save human lives, ”concluded Litovkin.