Russian Metis-M1 complexes were successfully tested in Syria. Metis-M1, anti-tank missile system Photo of the launch of the Metis-M anti-tank missile

Russian Metis anti-tank missile systems have proven their effectiveness in Syria. Moreover, ATGMs were used not only by soldiers of the government army, but also by their opponents, who received them as trophies.

According to Vestnik Mordovia, even before the start civil war Russia has supplied to Syria about 200 launchers of various modifications of the Metis anti-tank missile system and two thousand missiles for them. With the outbreak of active hostilities, some of the complexes fell into the hands of militants. It was using the Metis-M that the rebels managed to destroy the very first government aircraft at the Abu ad-Duhur airbase in early March 2012. The missile hit a MiG-23MS fighter standing outside the concrete shelters, which received heavy damage.

Government army fighters also actively used this complex to destroy armored vehicles and militant vehicles. Syrian soldiers who have used Metis note the comparative compactness of the ATGM as its advantage. It is easily transported and camouflaged. In addition, it has high armor penetration.

Note that the ATGM is quite easy to operate and you can learn how to use it in a few minutes. For example, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in the spring of 2013, during a visit to the training ground of the 106th Airborne Division, hit the target after 15 minutes of preparation.

The target - a tank with a white spot painted at its most vulnerable point - was located at a distance of two kilometers. Dmitry hit the target with the first shot. And he didn’t just hit the tank, but definitely hit that very white spot.

I have never fired from this complex. A short briefing and I managed to hit the target. This complex is quite easy to operate and does not require any special skills. Although I do shooting, it’s two different things - shooting from a rifle or pistol and shooting from an anti-tank system. Nevertheless, I got it. Once you get it, it means it’s simple, effective, convenient, which means that military personnel will master it within a year of military service,” Dmitry Rogozin later shared his impressions.

"Metis-M" adopted for service Russian army as a replacement for the first generation Mestis ATGM, as well as earlier systems such as Fagot and Konkurs. One of the most important features The new complex is the use of missiles equipped with a tandem cumulative warhead, as well as missiles equipped with a volumetric explosion warhead or, as they are also called, missiles with a thermobaric warhead. Such missiles are used in the well-known Bumblebee hand-held flamethrower.

Along with its main purpose - use as an infantry portable anti-tank complex, "Metis-M" can also be used as guided weapons for BMD and BMP.

Firing from the Metis-M ATGM can be carried out from both prepared and unprepared positions. A crew of two people can fire from a trench while standing, from a prone position, and also from the shoulder. It is also possible to fire directly from buildings, but in this case the condition must be met that there must be at least two meters of free space behind the launcher.

Help "RG"

The weight of the Metis-M1 launcher is 10 kilograms. The combat crew is two people. Time to bring into combat mode is 20 seconds. "Metis-M1" is capable of hitting armored targets at a distance of 100 meters to 2.5 kilometers. When firing, a 9M131 rocket (caliber 130 mm) is used. Armor penetration - 850 millimeters. Rate of fire up to three shots per minute.

Firing range - 40-1000 m, maximum flight speed - 223 m/s, flight time to maximum range - 6 s, length 730 mm, wingspan 370 mm, body diameter - 93 mm, transport and launch container dimensions - 784 x 138 x 145 mm, missile weight - 4.8 kg, in TPK - 6.3 kg, armor penetration - 250-550 mm. In the diagram: 1 – rudders; 2 – steering gear; 3 – cumulative warhead; 4 – fuse; 5 – main engine; 6 – wings; 7 – tracer; 8 – starting motor; 9 – reel with cable

Launcher weight – 10 kg, dimensions in combat position – 0.815 x 0.4 x 0.72 m, in stowed position – 0.76 x 0.225 x x 0.275 m, pointing angles: horizontal ±30°. vertical ±5°

Firing range – 80-1500 m, missile weight – 13.8 kg, average flight speed – 200 m/s, missile diameter – 130 mm, TPK length – 980 mm, armor penetration – 900 mm. In the diagram: 1 – precharge of a tandem warhead; 2 – steering gear; 3 – rudders; 4 – main engine; 5 – main charge of tandem warhead; 6 – fuse; 7 – wing; 8 – tracer; 9 – starting motor; 10 – reel with cable

Domestic portable anti-tank missile system"Metis" has become the simplest and cheapest ATGM of the "2+" generation

...This is the subject of constant debate both among scientists and among technology enthusiasts: how, by what criteria, to distinguish between generations, to which one to classify this or that sample? And in relation to our topic: should the currently produced domestic anti-tank missiles be considered products of the second or third generation? This dispute is not as pointless as it may seem, the price for it is a lot of money and, perhaps, a lot of blood...

So, the short-range ATGM "Fagot" () went into production, the time had come to think about its successor, because neither scientific and technological development nor the potential enemy were going to stop. While maintaining the basics - hitting the tank in a frontal view, automatically generating control commands in the control panel and transmitting them to the missile via wire - what can and should be improved? First of all, they continued to simplify (and therefore reduce the cost) of the rocket.

ATGMs clearly demonstrated their effectiveness, and tankers began to fight them. In this version of the “confrontation between sword and shield,” it was necessary (and succeeded) to significantly increase the power of the rocket a little later. Increasing its speed is very difficult and this transfers the projectile to another class (no longer wearable, but transportable). There is only one thing left to do: launch so many missiles that the enemy does not have enough means to combat them! But to do this, the cost of each rocket needs to be reduced... At what expense?

It would be better, on the contrary, to increase the warhead. It is not possible to make the engine much cheaper. But the guided missile also has a control system, and in particular, a gyroscope included in it. It is needed at least so that in an extremely simplified single-channel control method, which has already become standard for ATGMs, it is possible to determine at what moment which command (“right-left” or “up-down”) to issue. Is this necessary?

No, they decided at the Tula KBP. After all, the rocket still rotates at a speed of 7–12 rps, its flight is still tracked by guidance equipment (which is used many times and can be more expensive). So let the same equipment also monitor the angle of rotation of the rocket along its axis!

The 9M115 guided missile is simplified to the extreme: the most complex device in it is the fuse, which you still cannot do without. But there is no gyroscope: the rocket itself rotates, and a tracer is attached to the end of one of the wings. In flight, it leaves a spiral trail, along which automation (combined with launcher– PU) determines the orientation of the rocket axes in this moment and issues a command to maneuver.

It is transmitted via wires to a single-channel steering engine installed in the nose of the rocket. There are no energy sources for it: like previous Tula products, the incoming air flow is used for this purpose. The designers tinkered with the steering gear parts, which are now cast from plastic - you simply can’t think of anything cheaper for mass production!

The 9K115 "Metis" anti-tank guided missile system, consisting of a 9M115 missile in a transport and launch container, a 9P152 machine gun and a 9S116 guidance device (as well as a testing device and spare parts) was put into service Soviet army in 1978.

The launcher and four missiles (of course, in transport and launch containers) of the Metis are carried by a crew of two people, one carries a 17-kg pack No. 1 with a launcher and one missile, the other carries a 19.4 kg pack No. 2 with three missiles . Later, a 5.5-kg thermal imaging sight 1PN86VI “Mulat-115” was added to the kit, allowing detection of targets at a distance of 3200 m and identification at 1600 m. However, “Metis” did not remain in this form for long...

Soon it was necessary to increase - and very much - the armor penetration of anti-tank missiles: the potential enemy began to weigh down the tanks dynamic protection. There is only one known way to combat it - a tandem warhead consisting of two shaped charges. The first of them triggers the protective charge (or detonates it), and the second then hits the “bare” armor. In addition, this means that the parameters of cumulative warheads and the distance between them must be linked to each other, which significantly affects the size and design of the ammunition.

Unlike the Konkurs ATGM (), there was no way to add another head to the same missile in Metis. They decided to do it on the same principles (tracking orientation using a tracer, steering gear from incoming air...), with the same guidance equipment, but new, for the required masses and dimensions of the warhead. The result was the 9M131 rocket.

The caliber has increased one and a half times, the weight has doubled. It was possible to increase the maximum firing range by one and a half times, but most importantly, armor penetration increased from 500 to 900 mm!

The 9M131 layout was later used in several more KBP products. A forward cumulative warhead is located in front (this is called “precharge”). Behind it is a pneumatic steering engine, then a toroidal solid fuel propulsion engine. Moreover, this is not the form of a fuel charge, but of an engine housing! And the axial opening of large diameter serves to pass the cumulative jet of the main warhead, located immediately behind the engine.

This scheme causes some criticism, but it made it possible to create a compact and cheap missile of enormous destructive power - an ATGM penetrates 3-m thick concrete! By the way, this is important: since the control system allows you to hit not only armored vehicles, but also other targets - as long as the operator can see it - Metis-M is widely used for shooting at fortifications. For this purpose, they even made a special modification of the rocket - 9M131F with a 4.95 kg thermobaric (“volumetric explosion”) warhead.

The 9K115-2 Metis-M complex was adopted by the Russian Army in 1992. It is also portable, but heavier: pack No. 1 with a launcher and one missile weighs 25.1 kg, and No. 2 (with two missiles) weighs 28 kg.

...Can “Metis” and “Metis-M” be classified as the third generation of ATGMs? Hardly. After all, the operator must still see the target when firing, the automatic control combined with the launcher must track the missile in flight, and commands are given via wires...

The Metis-M ATGM is designed to destroy armored targets, fortifications, and firing points.
Composition of the complex:

• launcher (9P151);

• guided missiles in containers:

• 9M131 - with a cumulative warhead;

• 9M131F with thermobaric warhead;

ATGM "Metis-M1" - video

• thermal imaging sight (1PN86-VI);

• facilities Maintenance;

• educational and training facilities.

ATGM "Metis-M" second generation complex. It has a semi-automatic command control system with transmission of commands via wire, similar to the control system of the Metis ATGM. The launching device is borrowed from the Metis ATGM.
The Metis-M rocket has a simple and reliable design due to the absence of a gyroscope and battery electronic units on board.
For multi-purpose use, Metis-M missiles are equipped with two types of warheads:

• cumulative tandem, allowing you to hit modern and advanced tanks of all armies of the world, as well as fortifications and field structures (dot, DZOG);

• thermobaric, which has the high-explosive and incendiary effects of a 155-mm artillery shell, which makes it possible to hit powerful fortifications (bunkers, buildings, etc.), lightly armored vehicles and other small targets.

For shooting at night, the Metis-M ATGMs are equipped with a thermal imaging sight.

Features of the Metis-M ATGM:

• simple, reliable and easy to use;

• quickly (in 15-20 s) transferred from traveling to combat position and back;

• has a rate of fire of 3-4 rounds per minute;

• allows firing from prepared and unprepared positions from a prone position, from a standing trench, from various combat vehicles, as well as from the shoulder with a Metis missile;

• equipped with mechanisms for precise targeting of the target, which reduces the requirements for operator qualifications;

• small dimensions and weight make it possible to carry ATGMs in packs, while in pack No. 1 a launcher with a missile in firing position or a thermal imaging sight is carried, in pack No. 2 two Metis-M missiles are carried;

• the complex is sealed - you can overcome water obstacles with it;

• can be transported by any means of transport, placed on light carriers such as “jeeps”, and can also be airdropped.

Maintenance of ATGMs in the army is carried out both in the field and in stationary conditions (bases, arsenals). For maintenance of the launcher and thermal imaging sight, test equipment (KPA) is used.
The launcher KPA (9B569) consists of two control devices: KP1 and KP2. In the field, the serviceability of the launcher is checked using a portable KP1 device. In stationary conditions, the thermal imaging sight and the electronic equipment of the starting device are checked control device KP2.
The serviceability of the thermal imaging sight is checked using a separate set of control devices both in the field and in stationary conditions.
Guided missiles of the Metis-M complex do not require maintenance or inspection during operation and storage.

Performance characteristics ATGM "Metis-M"

Photo of the launch of the Metis-M ATGM missile

The 9K115 Metis man-portable anti-tank missile system is designed to destroy visually visible targets, stationary and moving at speeds of up to 60 km/h (tanks and other small armored targets) at ranges of up to 1000 m.
The complex was developed at the Instrument Design Bureau (Tula) under the leadership of chief designer A.G. Shipunov and put into service in 1978.
In the west, the complex was designated the AT-7 “Saxhorn” missile.
The 9K115 Metis complex was exported to many countries around the world and was used in many local conflicts in recent decades.
The complex includes: a 9P151 portable launcher with control equipment and a launch mechanism on the machine, 9M115 missiles in transport and launch containers, spare parts, testing equipment and other auxiliary equipment.

The 9M115 missile with a semi-automatic guidance system and a cumulative warhead is built using a canard aerodynamic design. The developers of the complex went to the extreme simplification and lightening of the disposable element of the complex - the missile, allowing some complication of the reusable ground-based guidance equipment. An important reserve for reducing the size, weight and cost of ATGMs was the simplification of the on-board equipment of the control system. As is known, ground-based equipment for semi-automatic guidance of ATGMs determines the position of the missile using tracking devices connected to the ground coordinate system. Previously created models of ATGMs with single-channel control were equipped with gyroscopes that ensure the conversion of control signals from ground-based guidance equipment into commands generated in relation to a coordinate system rotating with the missile. The gyroscope was a rather expensive product. The 9M115 missile is equipped with a tracer mounted on one of the wings. During flight, the tracer moves in a spiral. Ground equipment receives information about the angular position of the ATGM, which allows the commands issued to the missile controls via a wired communication line to be adjusted accordingly.
In the bow there are rudders with an open-type air-dynamic drive that uses free-stream air pressure. The absence of an air or powder pressure accumulator and the use of plastic casting for the manufacture of the main drive elements greatly reduces the cost of the drive compared to previously used products.
At the rear of the rocket there are three trapezoidal wings. The wings are made of thin, flexible plates. During assembly, they are rolled up around the body without any residual deformation; after the rocket exits the TPK, the wings straighten under the action of elastic forces. To launch a rocket, a starting engine with a multi-shot charge of solid fuel is used.

The missile is delivered and operated in a sealed transport and launch container.
The 9P151 launcher is foldable, it is a 9P152 machine, with a lifting and rotating mechanism on which control equipment is installed - a 9S816 guidance device and a hardware unit. The launcher has a mechanism for precise targeting of the target, which reduces the requirements for operator qualifications.
Currently, for shooting at night and in smoky conditions, the complex can be equipped with a 1PN86VI “Mulat-115” (“Falcon”2) thermal imaging sight, developed by NPO GIPO1, with a range of up to 1.5 km.
The complex, consisting of one launcher and four missiles, is carried in two packs by a crew of two people. Pack No. 1 weighing 17 kg with a launcher and one TPK with a missile, pack No. 2 - with three missiles in a TPK weighing 19.4 kg.
Shooting can be carried out from prepared and unprepared positions from a prone position, from a standing trench, and also from the shoulder. It is possible to shoot from an infantry fighting vehicle or armored personnel carrier and from buildings (in the latter case, about 6 meters of free space in the back is required).

In the 90s of the 20th century, the Instrument Design Bureau developed the Metis-M man-portable ATGM, which ensures the fulfillment of these requirements and has an optimal combination of characteristics in its class. The Metis-M ATGM is a multi-purpose defensive and assault weapon that allows you to effectively hit modern tanks, fortifications and other small targets at ranges up to 1500 m, it is reliable, simple and easy to use. The high tactical and technical characteristics of the Metis-M ATGM have been confirmed by many years of military operation both in the Russian army and in many armies foreign countries.

However, further modernization of armored vehicles, aimed at increasing their protection (increasing the thickness of the armor, equipping them with dynamic protection), as well as increasing the aimed firing range of tank guns, poses the task of ATGM developers to improve their characteristics to increase the firing range and increase the power of combat units. At present and in the near future, the main characteristics of wearable ATGMs should be considered to be firing range - at least 2000 m, armor penetration - at least 900-950 mm (taking into account the reserve space for destruction of the armored space).

In order to improve the main characteristics of the Metis-M complex, KBP JSC carried out its modernization in the following areas:
- the maximum firing range day and night has been increased from 1500 m to 2000 m by improving the aerodynamic characteristics of the rocket airframe and implementing new algorithms in the control system;
- armor penetration, including behind the DZ, has been increased from 850 mm to 900-950 mm due to the use of high-energy explosives, while simultaneously introducing technology for precision manufacturing of warhead elements;
- the weight of the starting device (PU) was reduced from 10.5 kg to 9.5 kg due to the use of microprocessor-based elements in the equipment.
The modernization was carried out taking into account the need to ensure the ability to fire both previously fired missiles from modernized launchers, and modernized missiles from previously released launchers. The Metis-M1 ATGM, in terms of its total combat and operational characteristics, is significantly ahead of the Metis-M ATGM and its closest foreign analogues.

The Metis-M1 ATGM is designed to enhance the combat power of company-level units, which, as a rule, are armed with only firearms and grenade launchers, which are ineffective against tanks due to low accuracy and short ranges of aimed fire. The complex is portable and in this sense is closest to a soldier. The small dimensions and weight of the complex’s components make it possible to form compact packs, allowing it to be transported by a crew of three people. In addition to personal weapons, the crew carries ammunition of five missiles. The crew commander carries a ready-made shot in his pack (a launcher with a missile mounted on it), which significantly reduces the preparation time for combat work and allows the crew to enter fighting directly from the march.

In the defense zone, an infantry battalion equipped with 80-90 ATGM ammunition hits up to 90% of the armored targets of an advancing enemy battalion, reinforced by a tank company and having up to 60 units of armored vehicles. When a battalion conducts an offensive, for example, against the position of a motorized infantry company reinforced by a tank platoon (13 armored targets), the Metis-M1 ATGM is capable of not only hitting all armored targets, but also significantly helping the infantry in the fight against enemy firing points, since in terms of range firing of its missiles significantly exceeds the mass weapon enemy: machine guns and RPGs. With a direct attack of the 9M131M ATGM into the frontal projection of the target, due to the powerful tandem cumulative warhead with an average armor penetration of 950 mm, a high level of penetration of the frontal armor of all tanks currently in service can be achieved.

Currently, the armies of various countries around the world have several tens of thousands of tanks of various modifications, the main differences of which are the level of protection, the composition and thickness of the armor, weight, the composition of the fire control system, etc. Based on the total achieved level of the mentioned characteristics, tanks can be divided into three groups. The results of calculations of the probability of destruction of three groups of tanks, carried out taking into account random values ​​​​of the coordinates of a 9M131M ATGM hit, the probabilistic nature of penetration of armor and destruction of vital units of a combat vehicle and the crew behind the armor, show that the probability of hitting tanks with dynamic protection of a 9M131M ATGM on average according to the angle of fire in the ±90° sector is: tanks of the 1st group 0.88, 2nd 0.72 and 3rd 0.70. It follows that the 9M131 M ATGM provides a level of probability of hitting the most protected tanks of 0.7-0.9, i.e. it takes one or two missiles to defeat them.

The results of firing tests showed that the 9M131M and 9M131FM guided missiles of the Metis-M1 complex developed by JSC Instrument Design Bureau provide a high level of lethal effect against targets of varying sizes, degrees of vulnerability and mobility. The Metis-M1 complex is characterized by positive side short flight time of the 9M131M ATGM and 9M131FM UR and high secrecy of combat operations, which leave virtually no chance for potential targets to cause optical interference and prevent them from completing a combat mission. Small dimensions and weight allow infantrymen to constantly carry the Metis-M1 ATGM and autonomously conduct combat operations with the efficiency of units equipped with large-caliber artillery. Essentially, the Metis-M1 ATGM solves the problems of artillery, but with much greater efficiency and efficiency and is nothing more than a high-precision “pocket artillery” of the platoon commander.

Fire support units (three or more launchers) can be created on the basis of the Metis-M1 complex, problem solving suppression of the most dangerous targets. They can be part of infantry, mountain rifle and airmobile divisions, separate infantry, separate mountain rifle and separate armored brigades, as well as a separate paratrooper brigade of light armed infantry, a separate amphibious brigade and a regiment of troops special purpose. ATGM "Metis-M1" is a highly effective, lightweight, portable defensive-assault weapon, capable of fighting modern and advanced tanks and other armored targets, fortifications such as bunkers, bunkers, field structures and manpower located in them, in daylight and night conditions at ranges from 80 m to 2000 m.

The optimal combination of small weight and size and high tactical, technical and operational characteristics makes it possible to equip the Metis-M1 complex landing troops, infantry and motorized rifle formations to strengthen their combat power during large-scale combat operations, as well as special units during counter-terrorism operations. During modernization, maximum unification between components ATGM "Metis-M" and "Metis-M1", which will allow, in a short time and at relatively low financial costs, to increase the tactical and technical characteristics of the ATGM "Metis-M", previously delivered to foreign customers. In this case, modernization can be carried out directly at the foreign customer. Re-training of specialists (gunners and technicians) to operate the modernized systems is not required.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Metis-M1 ATGM:

Firing range day and night, m:
- maximum - 2000
- minimum - 80
Rate of fire, rds/min 3-4
Control system - semi-automatic with command transmission via wires
Overall dimensions, mm:
- rocket caliber 130
- length of container with rocket 980
Warhead - tandem cumulative, thermobaric high-explosive action
Average armor penetration of cumulative warhead, mm 950
TNT equivalent of high-explosive warhead, kg 6
Firing of missiles with previously developed missiles of the Metis family is ensured
Weight, kg;
- starting device - no more than 9.5
- container with a rocket - 13.8
- thermal imaging sight - 6.5
Weight of packs, kg:
- launcher with rocket - 23.8
- two containers with missiles - 28.6
Pointing angles, degrees:
- horizontal ±30
- vertical ±5
Temperature range of application, degrees C 50