Weapon control systems

Granit Central Research Institute is a successor of the Ostekbburo (special technical bureau for I military inventions) founded under the Decree of the RSFSR Labour & Defence Council of July 18,1921. The Ostekbburo director was Vladimir Ivanovich Bekauri, a prominent inventor and the designer of a military remote control system, the person who was the first to suggest the idea of the circulating torpedo.

Thanks to Granit's work, by early 1940s the USSR Navy received:

- 450mm- and 350mm-caliber wave-controlled torpedoes;

- naval aviation torpedoes dropped from altitudes of 25m to 3000m;

- interference-resistant marine USV radio communication;

- USV radio-controlled unmanned torpedo boats, bombs, unmanned flying targets (a prototype of the future cruise missiles) and unmanned submarines.

In those days, they have also laid the foundations of hydroacoustics and of the gyro science.

Advanced research and engineering achievements, production and technology facilities, which Granit work team built up before the WWII and then quickly restored after the war, enabled the institute to retain and strengthen its leading positions in the development of radio-electronics for naval weapon controls.

After the war, Granit has based on the accumulated experience ventured into developing new kinds of engineering hardware:

- surface surveillance radars for submarines;

- targeting radars for ship- and shore-based missiles;

- shipside fire control systems for torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles;

- torpedo and missile guidance systems;

- anti-ship missile flight guidance systems,

Virtually all ships of the national Navy built after WWII, including the newest ones like Petr Velikiy, Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Souyza Kouznetstov and Admiral Tchabanenko, have weapon complexes developed at Granit.

The availability of research and production facilities and practical development work experience of the scientific personnel were those factors that made it possible for Granit products to become a success on the export market. We are expanding and strengthening relations with countries that procure our electronic suites.

Today, Granit successfully continues pursuing the original vector of work: the development of radio-electronics systems for the Russian Navy. The institute regards this kind of equipment as an integrated system, a “reconnaissance and attack circuit”, which incorporates the targeting system, the fire control system and the missile flight guidance system, and thus enables to resolve particular tasks in eveny component system of the circuit in the optimum way.

Post-war years saw a boost in the naval missile development, and work on already the early ship-based anti-ship missile complexes resulted in successful accomplishment of absolutely new research and engineering tasks:

• the world's first underwater-launched anti-ship missile (ASM) Ametist;

• the stand-alone beyond-horizon targeting system;

• the stealthy “fire and forget” missile operation concept;

• the first mono-pulse homing head;

• the missile salvo launching.

Missile flight systems have acquired computers enabling the weapon to solve such sophisticated information management tasks as target selection and enhancing countermeasure resistance in all operation modalities of the homing system.

In 1970s the global situation dictated the need to develop a basically new ASM that could be launched both from submarines under the water and from surface platforms, and could on its own engage aircraft carrier task forces at far distances.

An ASM of this class, Granit, was developed and commissioned in 1984, That project has involved implementing a large number of pioneering design solutions. Chief designers and production managers were awarded with Lenin and State Prizes for the development of different generations of weapon control systems.

Today, the institute is working on control systems for 4th-generation anti-ship missiles and engineering solutions evolved in this process enable Granit to stay on the benchmark level not only in Russia but internationally as well.

The fire control system is a crucial component of the ship's weapon suite and bears key responsibilities for launch preparations and firing of all sons of weapons: missiles, torpedoes or depth charges. Years of design work on several generations of fire control systems have evolved a special approach to the tasks assigned to this ship-based hardware. On one hand, it has to account for specific features of the involved weapons. On the other one, it needs considering the ship as the weapon platform. Optimised configuration of the system ensures the best possible efficiency of the weapons.

Granit designed naval computer-aided fire control systems (CFCS) for all anti-ship missiles for which it provided flight guidance systems (P-6, Ametist, Bazalt, Vulkan, Granit) and for the Uran ASM developed at the Zvezda - Strela Research & Production Corporation.

At the same time, we were working on torpedo/depth charge systems: Leningrad, Brest, Akkord, Purga. These complexes feature state-of-art computer hardware, microcomputers, network architecture and standardised interfaces.

One should especially note successful deliveries of the self-defence modification of the Purge system and of the Uran ASM fire control system to a number of countries.

As early as in 1947, Granit started first developments in submarine radars. The first product was the Flag radar and that project paved the way for now one of the key vectors of the institute's work: radar complexes for all classes of submarines, both conventional and nuclear.

Principal tasks of the early radars were:

• warning the submarine commanding officer about possible detection by surface ship or airborne systems;

• discrete observation of surface targets or shore landmarks for navigation safety under any weather conditions.

A special feature of the submarine radar was its antenna designed to endure pressures associated with the deepest diving depths of the platform. In 1950, Granit also designed the Neptun radar suitable for all surface ship classes of the Navy and of the merchant fleet, and it became the most broadly used radar in both applications. The plan position indicator of that radar combined terrain feature echoes with a common navigation chart projected in the required scale, and that made it especially convenient for practical sailing.

The first torpedo and artillery targeting radar Zaria arrived to the Navy in 1949. Subsequent follow-on developments were the Rangout radar (1959) and the Gravij radar (1966), which provided target designation data to first-generation P-15 anti-ship missiles and their modifications installed on missile boats. Those boats with P-15 missiles and Rangout radars were eventually supplied to many countries, including Yugoslavia, Greece, Egypt, Hungary, GDR. India, etc.

The main advantage of those radars was their small size combined with a high energy potential. That allowed putting them on small craft together with the P-15 missile complex or its later modifications and achieving targeting at distances of up to 90km. Greater ranges became available with the installation of the antenna on masts 10-12 metres above the water, i.e. at the most favourable altitude for ship-mounted waveguides.

One of the most recent Granit developments in targeting radars is the active/passive Garpun-Bal radar for the Uran missile system delivered abroad. The radar has a high active-mode energy potential that allows its ship-mounted antenna to reach beyond-horizon targets. The active-mode beyond-horizon capability of the Garpun-Bal radar was achieved by optimising the antenna height and a special technique for storing the received echoes.

Recent developments in surveillance radars are Radian and Radian-U active/passive radars for 3rd-generation submarines. Both systems feature a combined radar/communication antenna.

Now, the institute extensively works on surveillance radars for 4th-generation submarines and targeting systems capable of both stand-alone operation and using data feeds from airborne or space platforms.

Nearly all Granit radar designs were awarded with State Prizes.

  Granit Technology Basis

Granit technologies have a number of priority areas.

  Function-designed Microelectronics

This technology is the foundation of present-day instrumentation design, especially when it comes to radars. Today, there is just no other way to make microwave emitters and receiving antennas for fire control and flight guidance systems.

The institute has all necessary modern facilities for producing substrates for symmetric and asymmetric boards with unshielded components and sprayed-on passive structures.

Joint efforts of process designers and electronics experts make it possible to produce function-designed devices of virtually any sophistication.

  Computer Hardware

This is the core of practical implementation of the philosophy of flight guidance systems, radars and shipside control suites. This hardware is configured around procured, including internationally, components. Granit develops function-designed dedicated modules and integrates them into a single net using a common interface. The operating frequency is about 100MHz: RAM and ROM capacities may reach Mbytes and additionally there are flash-memory chips enabling multiple software-level programme entering.

Computer hardware with the above-described parameters enables to perform primary procession of radar data and to execute analysis tasks and control algorithms of any degree of sophistication. High-level programming languages make it easy to handle the software, to correct any mistakes and to have a clear sight of the system philosophy perfection.

  Complex Test & Perfection Facilities

All kinds of hardware, radar, missile flight guidance or shipside fire controls, need design finalisation tests at dedicated facilities that simulate the environment and log system parameters under all operation modalities. Additionally, flight systems are tested at a special dynamic rig simulating the flight of the missile and its homing to targets amid countermeasures.

The availability of these complex facilities enables Granit to act as the supplier of the hardware and to provide after-sales servicing.

For the purposes of mechanical and climatic testing, the institute has set up a test complex that can accommodate devices and systems weighting up to 500kg.

These tools enable Granit to develop principal components of all complexes, assemble, adjust and finalise them, including software debugging, on test-beds, and then to deliver electronic systems and suites to the customers.

  Conclusions

In the long years of its career, Granit Central Research Institute has developed scores of principally innovate systems and devices. Those developments first of all

included control systems for anti-ship cruise missiles P-6, Baza/I, Vulkan, Granit and the world's first underwater-launched cruise missile Ametist, surveillance and targeting radars Neptun, Zaria. Garpun and Radian for principal ship classes of the Navy. Those developments have also included ASW systems Leningrad, Ladoga, Brest and Purga, automation systems, etc. Granit products were largely world-level achievements on par with the best national and foreign designs.

Over the 80 years in this business, the institute established a large research and engineering team, which at different times employed 23 Doctors of Science and more than 300 Masters of Science. Granit staff members hold 3640 authorship certificates, 93 members became laureates of Lenin and State Prizes, 1100 employees were awarded with orders and medals.

Granit continues steady progress even under the new economic conditions. The institute is a leader among Russian control electronics companies, works for the Ministry of Defence, is actively involved in the development of exported systems, particularly for the Indian Navy, and extensively utilises dual-use technologies on the commercial market. For example, several staff members of the institute were in 1995 awarded with the Russian Federation Government Prize for the development of an environment protection complex. The institute's developments are competitive because Granit has managed to retain a highly qualified team of talented researchers and engineers.

All these factors allow ÎÒ Granit to confidently and optimistically face the future.