Shtora-1


Shtora-1 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. 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.

Description

Shtora-1 is an electro-optical jammer that disrupts semiautomatic command to line of sight 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. It is also available on the BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicle.

Components

The Shtora-1 has four key components: two electro-optical/infrared "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.
  • 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. 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.
Shtora-1 can operate in fully automatic or semi-automatic modes, continuously for six hours against ATGM attack.

Operational history

A number of Shtora-1 protected T-90s have been lost to anti-tank guided weapons in Syria and Ukraine. The jammers have been removed from many currently serving T-90s and the more modern S and M variants did not include them.

Specifications

  • Laser illumination sensors:
  • * 2x TShU-1-1 coarse precision sensors and 2x TShU-1-11 fine sensors
  • * Field of view : 138° azimuth 45° and −5 to +25° elevation
  • * Field of view : 360° azimuth
  • * Angular resolution: 7.5° 3.75°
  • 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