Shtora-1

Shtora-1 (Template:Langx, "curtain") is an electro-optical active protection system or suite for tanks, designed to disrupt the laser designator and laser rangefinders of incoming anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The system is mounted on the Russian T-80 and T-90 series tanks and the Ukrainian T-84. The existence of Shtora was revealed in 1980 by spy Adolf Tolkachev.<ref name="billiondollarspy">The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal, David E. Hoffman, location 3142, Kindle edition.</ref>

Description

Shtora-1<ref name="defense-update">Template:Cite web</ref> is an electro-optical jammer that disrupts semiautomatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) ATGMs, laser rangefinders and target designators. Shtora-1 is a soft kill countermeasure system. The system was shown fitted to a Russian main battle tank during the International Defense Exposition, held in Abu Dhabi in 1995. The first known application of the system is the Russian T-90 main battle tank, which entered service in the Russian Army in 1993.Template:Efn It is also available on the BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicle.

Components

Infrared light emitter, with its opening protected by a round cover

The Shtora-1 has four key components: two electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) "dazzlers" mounted on both turret cheeks, an infrared jammer, a modulator, and a control panel in the fighting compartment.

• Banks of forward firing grenade launchers on each side of the turret that lay an aerosol smoke screen opaque to IR light.
• A laser warning system consisting of four angle sensors with two higher precision sensors covering the frontal 90° arc and two lower precision sensors covering the sides and rear.<ref name="Xiaomao Research Institute">Template:Cite web</ref>
• A control system comprising control panel, microprocessor, and manual screen-laying panel. This processes the information from the sensors and activates the aerosol screen-laying system.
• Two IR lights, one on each side of the main gun, continuously emit coded pulsed-IR jamming when an incoming ATGM has been detected.

Shtora-1 has twelve smoke grenade launchers and weighs 400 kg. It can lay a 15 meter high and 20 meter wide smoke screen in three seconds that lasts about twenty seconds at ranges from 50 to 70 meters.<ref name="Xiaomao Research Institute"/> The Shtora-1 can also automatically slew the main gun towards a detected threat, so that the tank crew can return fire and so that the stronger frontal turret armour is facing it.<ref name="defense-update"/>

Shtora-1 can operate in fully automatic or semi-automatic modes, continuously for six hours against ATGM attack.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Operational history

A number of Shtora-1 protected T-90s have been lost to anti-tank guided weapons in Syria and Ukraine.<ref name="Murakhovsky">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Eastwood">Template:Cite web</ref> The jammers have been removed from many currently serving T-90s and the more modern S and M variants did not include them.Template:Cn

Specifications

• Laser illumination sensors:<ref name="Meyer">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 2x TShU-1-1 coarse precision sensors and 2x TShU-1-11 fine sensors
  • Field of view (each): 138° azimuth (coarse) 45° (fine) and −5 to +25° elevation
  • Field of view (total): 360° azimuth
  • Angular resolution: 7.5° (coarse) 3.75° (fine)
• EO interference emitters:
  • 2x OTShU-1-7
  • Operating band: 0.7-2.7 μm
  • Protected sector: 4° elevation and 20° azimuth
  • Energy consumption: 1 kW
  • Light intensity: 20 mcd
• IR smoke grenades:
  • 12x 81 mm 3D17
  • Obscured band: 0.4-14 μm
  • Bloom time: 3 s
  • Cloud persistence: 20 s