Sukhoi Su-24 Avionics

Main points about Orion-A:

Different mapping modes available.

RPO-B

25, 75 and 150km; standard mapping modes, metric or centimetric, coverage was 80 degrees. Large ships could be detected at 150km. Less accurate than RPO-A but longer range.

RPO-A
10km: MPO mode
5km: MPP mode

It appears that these two modes used millimetric radar, presumably from the Relyief radar, to achieve high resolutions.

An SDTS (moving target selection) mode was available.

Any Russian speakers who can add to this. or correct what I've said?

Video clips of Orion-A in action, from "Neba", a self-made documentary by the 455th Attack Regiment, flying Su-24s out of Voronezh.

orion-a-mode1-divx-big.avi
orion-a-mode2-divx-big.avi

Sources
  • Neba video http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos.php?action=view&id=3
  • http://www.avia.ru/cgi/discshow.cgi?id=2958741128462262636041111395148&topiccount=289
 
Interesting stuff!

Odd that the missile seems to make a direct hit while the aiming cross is drifting all around the target... It doesn't look as stable as any TV lock I've seen on Western displays. ???

The "orion*" avi files don't seem to be linked correctly in post #2, and the avia.ru forum topic seems to have been moved or removed. Do you have the original Russian text saved?
 
http://airbase.ru/users/varban/iba/su-24.htm seems to have a cached copy of the discussion. I fixed the links to the Orion radar footage.
 
Fascinating- this is an early Kaira installation, put on the last Su-24 of the second production batch and used in the Su-24M development program. Note the two windows, exactly mirroring the MiG-27K installation, and the position near the front of the fuselage.

Source:
  • Sergei Moroz, Su-24 Front Bomber, Major 2001
 

Attachments

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Did anyone ever verify the purpose of the two apertures on MiG-27K Kaira? According to Markovsky in the Exprint MiG-27 book, one aperture is a laser rangefinder, the other one TV and laser designator. Other sources state that one aperture is a LLLTV, the bottom one a tv and laser system.
 
IIRC, Markovskiy says that the upper aperture is a laser rangefinder, and the lower is the target designator - Kaira. But, doesn't Kaira itself provide range data? Unless the Kaira on the MiG-27K is some sort of an early model requireing separate ranging, and that on the Su-24M/MK a later, more advanced model - just food for thought here... I've read posts on some Russian boards by MiG-27K ex-pilots, and noone ever mentioned anything along the lines of an LLLTV...
 
Well, according to some sources, the Su-24 did not use laser ranging but exclusively used radar ranging, using the millimetric radar. If true, this would explain the absence of the second aperture on production Su-24M.
 
What puzzles me about the MiG-27K optronics suite is that the upper aperture looks alot like the homing head of the H-29T (I know it's not really a technical description ;D), and not at all similar to Fon or Klen apertures...
 
Tompa said:
What puzzles me about the MiG-27K optronics suite is that the upper aperture looks alot like the homing head of the H-29T (I know it's not really a technical description ;D), and not at all similar to Fon or Klen apertures...
This can be explained by the fact that the FON and KLEN(laser range finder/designator) were developed by the UOMZ compared to the CKB Geofizika which manufactured the LTvPS KAIRA. In my understanding the KAIRA on the Mig-27K included the laser range finder and the laser designator slaved with the TV(vidikon type) target recognizing system. Note also the KAIRA was able to track the target in the back hemispere what enabled to drop laser guided bombs. This probably needed to install apertures separately, the upper one for laser range finder and lower for laser designator. Even the newer "single aperture" KLEN-PM(PS for Sukhois) was not able of looking backward, therefore the Mig-27M was limited to use laser guided missiles only.
 
Is there a drawing of a Su-24 cockpit? I seen some drawings for Su-27Sk, Mig29, but didn't found it for Su-24 (I am kind of desperate , need it for a 3d Model)
 
Various models of this station were installed on other front-line bombers - MiG-23BK, MiG-27K.

Su-24MK (commercial) differs from Su-24M only in state identification equipment

Tasks of LTPS "Kaira-24":

- recognition of ground moving and stationary targets;

- laser illumination of ground targets for homing missiles with laser homing heads (GOS);

- automatic tracking of a ground target with stabilization of the line of sight;

- measurement of sighting angles in the coordinate system (SC) associated with the aircraft;

- issuance of target designations to the GOS.

Technical characteristics of LTPS "Kaira-24":

- max range - 7 km;

- min range - 3 km;

- angles of inclination of the line of sight:

* in the vertical plane - from 0 ° to minus 160 °;

* in the horizontal plane ± 35 °;

- maximum angular velocity (
image002.gif
) of the line of sight - 40 arc. deg / sec;

- maximum tracking error with the correlator - 5 arc. min for a cycle time of 30 sec;

- the radiation wavelength of the optical quantum generator (laser) - 1.06 microns;

- duration of a laser pulse at a level of 0.5 - (30 - 150) ns;

- divergence of the laser beam - no more than 5 ang. min;

- radiation energy in a pulse - (0.14 - 0.3) J;

- pulse power - no more than 5 MW;

- the maximum operating time of the laser is 2 minutes, with cyclic operation with an interval between pulses - not less than 15 seconds, with the number of cycles - not more than 8;

- sighting system weight - 160 kg.

The composition of the LTPS "Kaira-24":

- OKG;

- TV channel;

- sighting unit;

- electronics unit;

- correlator;

- communication unit.

The assembly of all units (except for the communication unit) on the structural frame is called the backlight station .

LTPS "Kaira-24" operates in the following functional modes:

- arresting;

- scanning;

- software-corrected tracking (PCS);

- automatically corrected tracking (AKS);

- autonomous correction (AK).

The main means of contactless obtaining of information about the target (s) is a television channel , the equipment of which converts an optical signal in the visible range of radiation (0.38 - 0.78 μm), received from the "space of objects" under its natural illumination (passive location).

For example, in the homing head (GOS) of an onboard missile, information about the target is obtained using optoelectronic means that convert the optical signal (in the near-infrared range of 1.06 μm) received from the target when it is illuminated by the radiation of an optical quantum generator (LQG) , i.e. when using the principles of active location.

In this case, the main parameters of the observation and non-contact measurement means are the angular dimensions of the field of view of the sensing element (vidicon) of the television channel and the angular direction in the space of the optical axis of the television channel or, in other words, the angular direction of the sighting axis (VO) characterizing the zero point of the coordinate system (SC ) of the angular direction meter on the target image (direction finder).


In the above functional modes, the technical means of the Kaira-24 LTPS are connected to each other in various structures, which are aimed at implementing the functions performed by the Kaira-24 LTPS in solving the entire complex of combat tasks of the Su-24MK front-line fighter-bomber.
 
Interesting data Overscan. First impression - accuracy was not spectacular - at least comparing to today standards:
5 minutes of acr is, approx: 5/60 /60 = 0.0014 of radians. That means - from 10km accuracy was 14m, from 5km about 7m. We have to add the same angular divergence of laser beam. On the other hand - laser guided bombs from that time had stated accuracy of 4 .. 7m for KAB-500L.
Well, interesting is also what is written on the second page of above mentioned link. There is section: correlator.
Correlation is standard method to track object (to match two signals, for example 2 images). But stunning is that this worked on binary images. I never have even idea it is possible, as today there are used 8bit/pixel images. Comparing binary images (between two consecutive frames) means this is just comparison of some general patterns. I wonder how this would be reliable. Probably this depends on content of image and setting binarization threshold. Some non-uniform lighting might be also challenge. But, as it was introduced -it seems that this worked, somehow. Maybe sufficient to stick to ground,but probably not to track some moving object.

There was compared images of size 128 lines x 32 elements in line so 4096 binary pixels - that corresponds to 0.5kB. As there is a needed for 2 images - memory requirement may be approx. 1kB... so range of memory in computers of 70-tees from Soviet Union (for example, comparing Orbita-20 had RAM capacity approx. 0.5 - 4kB, or so). Also working on bin images ... was extremely fast. Typically correlation is just cross- multiplying all pixels between two images and sum results (for one point of correlation image). Here there was no need to multiply or sum: simple XOR (or XNOR) gate is sufficient, and count impulses - so extremely fast
 
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