"Coalition", "Zircon" and "Hazel": formidable Russian weapons are the best in the world

In 2024, the Russian Armed Forces began using new types of weapons and military equipment in the zone of a special military operation. Izvestia was told about what kind of equipment appeared in the troops and how it showed itself on the line of combat contact.

ACS "Coalition-SV"

The most modern self-propelled artillery 2S35 "Coalition-SV" began to arrive in The Russian Armed Forces in early 2024.

The designers of Uralvagonzavod began to develop them in the 2000s. The first samples were shown at the parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow in 2015 and then began to be delivered to the troops in small batches for testing.

By the end of 2023, the production of self-propelled guns began to increase, which allowed at the end of the year and the beginning of 2024 to begin supplying the Coalition-SV to form artillery batteries in the SMO zone.

Conventional projectiles are used at a range of up to 40 km, and active-reactive ones are used at a greater range. ACS can also use guided artillery shells of the Krasnopol family, which hit enemy targets with high accuracy.

Therefore, the "Coalition-SV" can conduct counter-battery warfare on equal terms with the most modern Western self-propelled guns and provides fire support for offensive operations of troops.

3M-22 "Zircon"

The newest Russian 3M-22 Zircon hypersonic missile was first used in the combat zone in February 2024. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a message to the Federal Assembly.

During the strike operation on targets in the Kiev area, its probable use at speeds above five speeds of sound is noted. And at the same time, the Zircon naval missile was launched for the first time from a land launcher from the territory of Crimea.

The 3M-22 Zircon hypersonic missile was developed by NPO Mashinostroenie and can reach speeds of about eight speeds of sound (~10,000 km/h). At the same time, the rocket moves in dense layers of the atmosphere and can maneuver.

The main advantage of the missile is that it is extremely difficult for modern air defense systems to shoot it down, since it has a unique speed and maneuverability. The range is up to 1 thousand km.

The rocket is universal. "Zircon" can be used on ships, and can strike at stationary ground objects. The basic version was adopted by the frigates of project 22350 in January 2023. The future flagship of our fleet, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, is armed with the same missiles.

Heavy bombs with UMPK

In 2024, the production of FAB-3000 M-54 bombs weighing 3 tons was resumed. For this munition, a set of UMPC has been created — a controlled planning and correction module that turns the heaviest non-nuclear munition of the Russian Aerospace Forces into a high-precision planning bomb. Carriers of heavy bombs are both front-line Su-34 bombers and long-range Tu-22M3.

One of the components of the success of the Russian Armed Forces in conducting the Avdiivka offensive operation in early 2024 was the use of heavy bombs FAB-1500 M-54 with UMPK. With their help, enemy strongholds were destroyed at a range of 50-60 km, which allowed aviation not to enter the air defense zone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Fiber-optic drones

During the counterterrorist operation in the Kursk region, Russia for the first time began to massively use a new type of FPV drones - the Prince Vandal Novgorodsky drones with fiber—optic cable control. Such drones are completely noise-proof and are not subject to enemy electronic countermeasures.

The use of optical fiber somewhat reduces the maneuverability of the drone and limits the range, but the gain is worth it: any electronic protection systems are nullified. Modern technologies for the production of optical fiber make it possible to lay several kilometers of fiber in a coil weighing 200-300 grams, which unwinds during flight, and thereby provides sufficient range to solve tactical tasks on the battlefield.

Noise immunity and increased accuracy compensate for the increase in the cost of such drones. The issue is now moving to the plane of ensuring the mass production of jamming-proof drones to cover all the needs of parts and compounds employed in SMO. The first cases of the use of such drones by the Russian military date back to the spring of 2024, and by autumn the use of fiber-optic drones began to be widespread.

"Hazel"

On November 21, 2024, for the first time, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation used the new medium-range missile system "Oreshnik". The test and combat launch was carried out at the Yuzhmash military enterprise in Dnepropetrovsk.

In his address, Vladimir Putin said that during the test launch, the missile warheads reached a speed of 10 M (10 speeds of sound) or 2.5−3 km/s. The range of the new system is from 800 to 5000 km, which allows it to hit any targets on the European continent.

"Hazel" is declared as a non-nuclear missile system, the impact of which, with massive use, can be comparable to a tactical nuclear strike. At the same time, the interception of its warheads by modern air defense and missile defense systems is almost impossible.

Thus, Russian engineers have created a unique missile system that can be deployed deep in our territories with the possibility of striking any targets of potential opponents with non-nuclear hypersonic warheads. And no country in the world has such weapons today.