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| Russia Develops New Krasnopol Ammunition With Laser Range Of 25 Km |
Moscow - Russia through the Kalashnikov arms company developed a new artillery ammunition named Krasnopol. The Krasnopol is a laser-guided precision semi-active munition with a fragmentation warhead with a maximum firing range of 25 km.
Quoted from Bulgarian Military, Tuesday (2/8/2022), Krasnopol ammunition is capable of destroying fortified bunkers, command posts, and armored vehicles. Krasnopol's effectiveness in destroying targets is claimed to reach 90%, but in unfavorable weather it is around 40% to 70%. The Krasnopol launch system has three distinct phases.
Initially Krasnopol ammunition moves ballistically, then changes inertia. In the final phase, the projectile is raised so that it strikes the target from above (Top-Attack) at an angle of 35-45 degrees.
The weight of the Krasnopol guided projectile is about 50 kg. Since Russia operates two main caliber artillery, namely 152mm and 155mm, Kalashnikov produces two types of Krasnopol according to the caliber of artillery used by Russia.
The Krasnopol is most often used by the two main artillery weapons systems, namely the 2S3 Akatsiya and 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzers. Kalashnikov hopes development and testing can be carried out as soon as possible, if the war in Ukraine continues until the end of the year can be directly tested in real combat.
Krasnopol was developed in the mid-1980s and has operated extensively on the battlefield. There are at least three conflicts, namely the Syrian civil war, the second Libyan civil war, and the current war in Ukraine.
In addition to Russia, Greece, India, China, Algeria and Syria are operators of this type of artillery projectile. Ukraine is also armed with this Soviet model of artillery shells, but in early June the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced it had run out of stock.