Dnipro air defense system

The Ukrainian defense industry has made a big leap - a large number of different types of weapons have been modernized, and new ones have appeared that have been adopted or will be adopted in the near future. One of the new types of weapons is the Dnipro medium-range anti-aircraft missile complex, which has been under development since 2012. At first, it was intended for installation on the project 58250 corvettes under construction, and only in 2014 it began to be developed as an army variant.

Ukrainian military-industrial complex needed to manufacture its own air defense system, as the systems inherited from the Soviet Union have proved insufficient. The gap in air defenses could be filled by the Dnipro, a prospective medium- and short-range air defense system, which has been under development since 2014 and combines the characteristics of air and missile defense systems. The main task of this air defense system is to defend against modern and future aerodynamic air attacks, while providing information about the general air situation and the results of combat work in particular.

It is assumed that the Dnipro air defense system will be effective against aircraft and helicopters of all types, UAVs, and medium- and short-range cruise missiles. The system includes a combat control point and a multi-purpose radar station (each is placed on the chassis of a KrAZ-6322 truck) and up to six launchers, which makes it possible to simultaneously launch 12 guided missiles at six enemy air targets.

The Dnipro air defense system is the product of the cooperation of a number of enterprises: the missiles were developed by the Kyiv State Security Bureau "Luch", the guidance heads for them were developed by the Lviv State Enterprise LNDRTI.

The multi-functional missile guidance radar station was developed by the Zaporizhzhia NPC "Iskra", and the combat control point for the "Dnipro" air defense system was developed by the Kyiv NVP "Aerotechnika-MLT". The basis for the complex is the machines of PJSC "AvtoKrAZ". According to the military, the new complex is capable of destroying aircraft and helicopters of all types, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles at medium and short ranges. Despite the fact that the complex can shoot down targets at any time of the day, even under difficult weather conditions and under active information, fire and maneuver countermeasures of the enemy. The Dnipro air defense system includes a combat control station (on the armored KrAZ-6322 chassis), a multifunctional radar (also on the KrAZ-6322 chassis), as well as launchers.

It should be noted that the multifunctional radar station is developed using the technology of active phased antenna arrays and provides a target detection range of 150 km. The Dnipro air defense system can simultaneously launch 12 guided missiles at six targets. Anti-aircraft missiles used in the complex of two modifications: with command remote control on the initial and middle sections of the trajectory and active homing on the final section and with radio correction of guidance on the initial and middle sections and active homing on the final section.

The 1L220U (1L220U-KC) battlefield phased-array fire-control radar is designed to establish the coordinates of hostile artillery, mortars, multiple-launch rocket systems and tactical missile batteries, provide targeting data for counter-fire operations and monitor friendly fall of shot. The system�s phasedarray, electronics, operator workstations, navigation and communications subsystems and power supply are installed aboard the armoured tracked chassis, with a second cross-country wheeled �spares and accessories� vehicle providing support. Other system�s functions include threat-type identification, impact-point forecasting, collection of battlefield reconnaissance data and information hand-off to higher commands and associated weapon systems.

THE COMPLEX IS CAPABLE TO QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY ACCOMPLISH THE FOLLOWING:

• identification of the firing system class: mortars, MBRL, artillery, tactical missiles;
• forecasting of the enemy impact points;
• collection of reconnaissance data concerning the battlefield, estimation of width and depth of enemy batteries location (orientation) and transfering of reconnaissance data to the command posts of the Higher Command and to the command posts of the cooperative fire units.

IT IS DESIGNED FOR:

• reconnaissance by the first shot of enemy artillery, Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) Fire Position (FP) coordinates, enemy tactical missiles Launching Positions (LP) coordinates, and transmission of target designation signals to friendly units;
• check of impacts and adjustment of the friendly fire means.

EMPLOYMENT OF COMPLEX 1 L220U (1 L220U-KC) AND ARTILLERY OR MBRL BATTALIONS ENABLES:

• effective firing activity under the conditions of reduced visibility and enemy electronic counter-measures;
• increase of reconnaissance and killing area by 8 to 10 times comparing to battalions equipped with standard facilities;
• reduction of fire mission execution time by 1,5 to 2 times;
• reduction of the ammunition depletion by 2,5 to 3 times;
• creation of reconnaissance fire and reconnaissance-attack systems.

Two versions of solid-propellant two-stage missiles have been developed for the Dnipro air defense system. The first has a remote control system on the initial and middle sections of the flight path, while the second one has radio guidance on the initial and middle sections. At the end of the trajectory, both versions of the missile go into active homing mode.

The declared maximum target detection range of a �tactical fighter� at an altitude of 7 kilometers is not less than 150 kilometers, at an altitude of 150 meters it is not less than 50 kilometers, and at an altitude of 20 meters is not less than 28 kilometers. The target height range varies from 15 meters to 25 kilometers m, and the range is from 7-60 kilometers. The deployment time of the Dnipro system is no more than four minutes.

In April 2017 military exercises were underway in the south of Ukraine, during which test launches of medium-range guided missiles are taking place. This was announced by the Secretary of the National Security Council after the end of the tests. According to him, the missiles confirmed their combat characteristics and hit the target precisely. "The missile complexes that have been tested can reliably hit both air and surface targets," the Secretary of the NSDC stressed, stressing that the exercises and missile launches took place in accordance with the approved program. "That is, at the precisely planned time and precisely planned place," he added.

"For many years, Russian agents and corrupt leaders of the Ministries of Defense deliberately destroyed the air defense system of Ukraine," he said, explaining that "that is why these tests were very important, because this is a very serious step towards the restoration of our country's air defense."