Soure: Military Update
Military Update
2K22 Tunguska in action
The 2K22 Tunguska (Russian: 2К22 "Тунгуска") is a Russian tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon armed with a surface-to-air gun and missile system. It is designed to provide day and night protection for infantry and tank regiments against low-flying aircraft, helicopters, and cruise missiles in all weather conditions. The NATO reporting name for the missile used by the weapon system is SA-19 "Grison"
After a limited production run of the original 2K22, an improved version designated 2K22M/2S6M entered service in 1990. The 2K22M featured several improvements with eight ready-to-fire missiles (four on each side) as well as modifications to the fire control programs, missiles and the general reliability of the system, and improved autocannons, 2A38M.
Tunguska underwent further improvement when, in 2003, the Russian armed forces accepted the Tunguska-M1 or 2K22M1 into service. The M1 introduced the new 9M311-M1 missile, which made a number of changes allowing the 2K22M1 to engage small targets like cruise missiles by replacing the eight-beam laser proximity fuze with a radio fuse. An additional modification afforded greater resistance to infrared countermeasures by replacing the missile tracking flare with a pulsed IR beacon. Other improvements included an increased missile range from 8 to 10 km, improved optical tracking and accuracy, improved fire control co-ordination between components of a battery and the command post. Overall, the Tunguska-M1 has a combat efficiency 1.3–1.5 times greater than the Tunguska-M.
The Tunguska family was until recently a unique and highly competitive weapons system, though in 2007 the Pantsir gun and missile system entered production at KBP—a descendant of the Tunguska, the Pantsir system offers even greater performance than its predecessor.
