Shtora-1 (russian: Штора, "curtain") is an electro-optical active protection system or suite for tanks, designed to disrupt the

laser designator A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, o ...

and

laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...

s of incoming

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s (ATGMs). The system is mounted on the Russian

T-80 The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72. The chief designer of the T-80 was So ...

and

T-90 The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and comp ...

series

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s and the Ukrainian

T-84 The T-84 is a Ukrainian main battle tank (MBT), based on the Soviet T-80 MBT introduced in 1976, specifically the diesel engine version: T-80UD. The T-84 was first built in 1994 and entered service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1999. Its h ...

. The existence of ''Shtora'' was revealed in 1980 by

Adolf Tolkachev Adolf Georgiyevich Tolkachev (russian: Адольф Георгиевич Толкачёв; 6 January 1927 in Aktyubinsk (now Aktobe), Kazakh ASSR, Soviet Union – 24 September 1986) was a Soviet electronics engineer who provided key documents to ...

.'' The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal'', David E. Hoffman, location 3142, Kindle edition.

Description

Shtora-1 is an

electro-optical Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propag ...

jammer Jammer may refer to: Signal blocking devices * Radar jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception * Radio jammer, a device used in radio jamming * Radio-controlled Improvised Explosive Device jammer, a counter-IED device * Mobile phon ...

that disrupts semiautomatic command to line of sight (

SACLOS Semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) is a method of missile command guidance. In SACLOS, the operator has to continually point a sighting device at the target while the missile is in flight. Electronics in the sighting device and/or th ...

) antitank guided missiles,

s and target designators. Shtora-1 is a soft kill countermeasure system. The system was shown fitted to a Russian

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

during the International Defense Exposition, held in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

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 (IR) " dazzlers" interface station one each mounted to the left and right of the main

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

, which includes an infrared jammer,

modulator In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

, and control panel. # A bank of forward firing

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

s or dischargers mounted on either side of the turret, which can fire grenades dispensing an

aerosol An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog o ...

smoke screen A smoke screen is smoke released to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks, aircraft, or ships. Smoke screens are commonly deployed either by a canister (such as a grenade) or generated by a vehicle (such as ...

opaque to infrared light. # A

laser warning system A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

with precision and coarse heads. # A control system comprising control panel,

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

, and manual screen-laying panel. This processes the information from the

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s and activates the aerosol screen-laying system. # Two infrared lights, one on each side of the main gun, continuously emit coded pulsed-infrared jamming when an incoming ATGM has been detected. Shtora-1 has a field of view of 360 degrees horizontally and –5 to +25 degrees in elevation. It contains twelve aerosol screen launchers and weighs 400 kg. The screening aerosol takes less than three seconds to form and lasts about twenty seconds. The screen-laying range is from 50 to 70 meters. According to Defense Update, the Shtora system can also locate the area within 3.5–5 degrees where the laser originated from and automatically slew the main gun to it, so that the tank crew can return fire and so that the stronger frontal turret armour is facing it.

Operating modes

Shtora-1 can operate in fully automatic or semi-automatic modes, continuously for six hours against anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) attack.

Specifications

According to Steven Zaloga and ''Tankomaster'': *

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

illumination sensors : ** 2x TShU-1-11 precision

s and 2x TShU-1 rough sensors ** Field of view (each): −5° .. +25° elevation and 90° azimuth ** Field of view (total): 360° azimuth * 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 * Anti-

FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

smoke grenade Smoke grenades used at demonstrations in Paris, 2008 upBritish L83A1 Smoke Grenade manufactured in May 2008. This grenade has already been used. A smoke grenade is a canister-type grenade used as a signaling device, target or landing zone mark ...

s: ** 12x 81 mm 3D17 ** Obscured band: 0.4 .. 14 μm ** Bloom time: 3 s ** Cloud persistence: 20 s

Notes

References

{{APS Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Weapons countermeasures Weapons of Russia Military equipment introduced in the 1980s