Now there are increasingly frequent warnings that Russia is accumulating hundreds of Shahed missiles and kamikaze drones in order to massively attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with the onset of cold weather. To repel attacks, we need layered air defense.
Kamikaze drones, which the enemy launches into swarms of peaceful cities, have become perhaps the biggest threat. They are cheap, have a powerful warhead and cause great destruction.
However, a new addition is being prepared to the arsenal of our anti-aircraft gunners – unique mobile air defense systems Terrahawk Paladin, which were promised by Great Britain.
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What capabilities does the new British system have and whether it will be able to protect the Ukrainian sky in the event of massive attacks by kamikaze drones – further in the material.
Terrahawk Paladin: what is known about the air defense system
This short-range anti-aircraft artillery system was first introduced by the British weapons manufacturer – MSI Defense Systems Ltd – just a year ago.
It is used against air, as well as sea and ground targets. Such a “catcher” is an alternative to mobile military fire teams that hunt for enemy targets in pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on turrets in the back.
Terrahawk Paladin works on a similar principle, but more thoroughly, because the complex itself finds and follows the target.
– The person simply points the camera at the target with a joystick. After this, the target is already captured by the system automatically, the gun is aimed and accompanies this target until the target is fired upon,” said Air Defense Officer of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Denis Smazhny .
As noted by military expert Nikolai Salamakha , the operating principle of Terrahawk Paladin is as follows: they arrived, unloaded the complex from the transport carrier, installed it – and it works.
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If there is a need to move an air defense system, the same transport carrier arrives and transports it to another place, where it is deployed again.
Terrahawk Paladin consists of three parts . The first is the radar component, responsible for target detection. On one mast there are four radar stations (radars) with active phased array antennas (AFAR). This allows the complex to search for targets at 360°.
The second is a digital fire control system. Accuracy is ensured by a module with a thermal imager and a laser rangefinder.
And the third component is the weapon itself: the 30 mm Mk 44 Bushmaster II cannon.
– This gun has the ability to engage targets at an effective distance of up to 2 km. Yes, this is a short range system. But it is precisely due to the high-quality fire control system and high-quality radar that it significantly increases the efficiency of using each cartridge,” explained Alexander Kovalenko, military-political observer of the Information Resistance group .
Operators control the anti-aircraft gun remotely using remote control panels.
This is a very important point, because the safety of the military depends on it.
“The digital fire control system, as well as the radar with AFAR, fully satisfy the needs of this gun for destroying objects, because in itself it is quite accurate, and this complements it,” Kovalenko noted.
What distinguishes this complex from similar ones is its radar station. It gives great opportunities.
According to Oleg Katkov, editor-in-chief of the military portal Defense Express , radar is necessary for operators to see where their target is approaching from.
– This is not a prerequisite, but it makes life much easier. Because if there is no such radar, then this information must be obtained from another radar station. And so the complex becomes more autonomous in identifying targets,” said Katkov.
The complex is smart, uses artificial intelligence.
At the same time, both in appearance and in operation, Terrahawk Paladin is very simple.
– What did our partners producing it do? They took a very reliable 30mm Bushmaster gun and attached a very simple radar to it. They also equipped it with conventional cameras, optical and infrared cameras, and connected it all to conventional controls, a conventional joystick. People learn very quickly with this setup. And we hope that its effectiveness will also be high,” air defense officer Colonel Denis Smazhny shared his impressions.
An interesting detail is that the complex can use both regular standard ammunition and programmed ones that work perfectly against low-flying air targets, like Shahed (in the Russian version, Geranium).
– Ammunition can be used with remote detonation, which increases the likelihood of hitting a target. If we take the analogy with the German Gepards, then the first stage is sighting, 3-4 shots, and the second stage is, as a rule, on target, clarified military expert Nikolai Salamakha .
Cost of destroying Shaheds
What did the Shaheds shoot down with? From Soviet Shilokas, MANPADS and even machine guns. Anti-aircraft missile systems can also hit them.
Such a target is much more vulnerable than Russian cruise missiles. Flying “mopeds” are slow – about 180 km per hour.
And here the price of the issue is important, that is, the cost of destruction. After all, one such drone costs from $20 to $40 thousand, tens of times cheaper than an air defense missile.
And the enemy has inexhaustible reserves of Shaheds. In September alone, he launched 500 units in Ukraine. Consequently, not only more effective, but also cheaper countermeasures are needed.
– If we take the Terrahawk Paladin anti-aircraft artillery systems, the cost of destroying a target like Shahed will be roughly measured in several hundred dollars. At a time when… the AIM-120 rocket for the NASAMS complex costs $1.3 million, the cheaper IRIS-T costs half a million euros,” noted Oleg Katkov.
Not only drones: what can destroy Terrahawk Paladin
Thanks to radar and a digital fire control system, the Terrahawk Paladin can hypothetically destroy missiles.
– A fragment weighing half a gram or 1 gram is enough to sometimes hit a missile. If there are 5-6 such fragments, this is an almost guaranteed defeat,” said military expert Nikolai Salamakha.
Air defense officer Colonel Denis Smazhny confirmed that the system is not limited in the targets it can shoot down.
– In case of successful capture by the operator, any target can be fired upon. If the operators are sufficiently trained, they will be able to destroy cruise missiles, Smazhny said.
But the system is not fully automated, and also has a small radius. Therefore, kamikaze drones are still the main target.
The manufacturer of Terrahawk Paladin, MSI, assures that the system is capable of effectively performing a wide range of field tasks. From protecting critical infrastructure and strengthening coastal defense to covering other, more expensive air defense.
“Given that this is a short-range installation, it will not be used as an element of the hunt, like some kind of mobile group hunting for the Shaheds.” And it will most likely be used to cover some kind of facility – energy or other, which could be attacked by the Russian occupiers, says Alexander Kovalenko.
Experts are confident that the Terrahawk Paladin complex will become an important addition to Ukraine’s layered air defense system. An important role in it should be played not only by such powerful Western systems as MIM-104 Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T, but also by short-range installations that can destroy enemy targets that have broken through.
The main thing is that the matter is not limited to one batch of Terrahawk Paladin.
