How do mines "ambush" helicopters in the sky?

How do mines "ambush" helicopters in the sky?

The Russian army is installing mines with different purposes, including special anti-helicopter mines, which can effectively kill low-altitude targets and perform various tasks.

Low-altitude killers give birth to anti-aircraft mines

In modern wars, armed helicopters play an important role in the armies of various countries with their high maneuverability, high flexibility, fierce firepower and all-weather combat capability.

In combat, due to the large blind area of low-altitude ground radar, gun aiming radar is difficult to track and aim, and air defense weapons are not easy to hit low-altitude targets. Helicopters just take advantage of this weakness of low-altitude air defense system, flying at low altitude and ultra-low altitude most of the time, which makes the air defense weapon system want more than it can, and also makes the ground armored targets and air defense system face unprecedented threats.

Helicopters pose new challenges to traditional air defense means, so anti-helicopter techniques and tactics are constantly improved and updated, including the use of mines, a low-cost defensive weapon, to ambush incoming helicopters in a "waiting for a rabbit" way to make up for the shortage of ultra-low altitude firepower.

The Soviet Union was the first country in the world to develop anti-helicopter mines. During the Cold War, NATO equipped a large number of armed helicopters in response to the huge "steel torrent" of the Soviet Union.

In response, the Soviet Union Bazzali Special Scientific Research and Production Consortium developed the "Su -20" anti-helicopter mine. "Speed -20" integrates sensing, microcomputer processing and rocket technology, which can be buried underground and placed on the ground. When the helicopter enters the mine attack range, the detector can accurately identify the sound, direction and type of the helicopter. After accurately identifying the target, the mine will automatically launch a projectile to attack the helicopter.

The terrible "melody" in helicopter ears

After the cold war, Russia developed melody -20 anti-helicopter mine on the basis of speed -20. "Melody -20" weighs about 12kg and has two models: manual layout and remote control layout. The manual layout type is a cube with a length of less than 0.5 meters under the transportation state, which looks like a box full of things being spread out in battle. The remote layout type is a hexagonal column in a folded state, which is like the same flat octopus in battle.

Melody -20 is mainly composed of sensors, warheads and command and control systems. The built-in chip stores the acoustic field characteristic data of the enemy and the enemy helicopter, and can be compared and analyzed when the target is found. When the sensor found that the target entered the search range of 2000 meters, Melody -20 mine began to identify and track, input the sensing data into the command and control system in the mine body, and automatically calculated the best interception point. while

When the target enters the interception point, the mine body immediately ignites and fires, throwing the warhead into the air at a height of about 100 ~ 200m, and then activating detonation to destroy the target (its warhead is filled with 1960 metal rod fragments, which can penetrate the helicopter armor with a thickness of 10mm at 50m).

The newly installed mine in Russia is version 3.0 of Melody -20. The main differences between the new version and the old version are as follows: first, the infrared short-range sight is added to enhance the detection and identification ability, and the detection and identification system is increased to at least four acoustic sensors, with a reliability rate of over 90%; Secondly, the control system can be operated remotely, and the pilot can ensure the safety of his helicopter by turning on or off the mine; Third, the new mines have expanded the defense scope and the defense radius has increased to 400 meters.

Some analysts believe that the new anti-helicopter mine breaks through the traditional concept that the old mine is only a ground defense weapon, which can not only attack helicopters, but also pose a threat to fixed-wing institutions, and will have a new impact on the future war mode.

Military dictionary

Anti-helicopter mines attack fixed-wing aircraft: on the one hand, anti-helicopter mines can be laid near the runway to ambush enemy aircraft when the aircraft takes off and lands.

On the other hand, the existence of anti-helicopter mines can have obvious psychological impact. Because of the fear of this kind of mine, enemy pilots will increase their flying altitude, but they will enter the kill zone of other air defense systems.