STUDY OF A MODERNIZED AН-26 AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED WITH CONTAINERS WITH MEANS OF PROTECTION AGAINST GUIDED MISSILES

Abstract

To date, given the significant losses in the east of our country during the Russian-Ukrainian war, there is an urgent need to provide protection for both the crew and aircraft in general. The retrofitting of the An-26 aircraft with modernized containers with means of protection against guided missiles resolved a number of issues raised. In the course of experimental research, the main combat, technical and operational characteristics of the An-26 aircraft, equipped with modernized containers with means of protection against guided missiles, were determined.
 To study the main combat, technical and operational characteristics, an An-26 aircraft was presented, equipped with modernized containers, means of protection against guided missiles: a combined emission device and an optoelectronic countermeasure station.
 The An-26 aircraft equipped with modernized containers with means of protection against guided missiles when working on the ground and in flight, is operational.
 The main combat, technical and operational characteristics of the An-26 aircraft, equipped with modernized containers with means of protection against guided missiles, generally meet the requirements of regulatory documentation, except for incomplete completeness of optoelectronic countermeasures station, twice limited protection zone of the station in azimuth, and ineffectiveness of aircraft protection by thermal trap emission device in the radar spectral range of wavelengths with the help of pyrocartridges for the radar station of the self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system.
 A comparative analysis of the main indicators of tactical and technical characteristics of the An-26 aircraft, upgraded with modernized containers with means of protection against guided missiles, before and after modernization, on the example of prototypes of containers with standard means of protection, reveals advantages and disadvantages of new means of protection.