The Kortik (, "

dirk A dirk is a long-bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.); "Dagger", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729. Historically, it gained its name from the Highland dirk (Scott ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

(CIWS) is a modern naval air defence gun-missile system deployed by the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

. Its export version is known as Kashtan (, English:

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

), with the NATO designation CADS-N-1 Kashtan. The Kortik is found on the Russian aircraft carrier '' Admiral Kuznetsov'', the , the , as well as the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

''Sovremenny''-class destroyers, and other modern designs. Typically deployed as a combined gun and missile system, it provides defence against

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

s, anti-radar missiles and guided bombs. The system can also be employed against fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft or even surface vessels such as fast attack boats or targets on shore. The Kortik will be replaced in Russian Navy service by the Pantsir-M CIWS, which uses similar rotary cannons but different missile and radar systems.Pantsir-M Naval Air Defense Missile/Gun System to Enter Service with Russian Navy Before Year-End
- Navyrecognition.com, 28 February 2017

Design

The weapon is a modular system consisting of a command module and typically two combat modules, as in the case of the two ''Sovremennyy''-class destroyers ''Taizhou'' (ex-''Vnushitelnyy'') and ''Ningbo'' (ex-''Vechnyy'') in Chinese service, although the number can be as many as 8 in the case of '' Admiral Kuznetsov''. The command module detects and tracks threats, distributes targeting data to the combat modules, and interrogates the IFF system of approaching threats. The command module has a 3-D target detection radar, and an all weather multi-band integrated control system. Depending on the number of installed combat modules, the system can engage multiple targets simultaneously. The combat modules automatically track using either radar, an electro-optronic control system (such as FLIRs) or both, and then engages targets with missiles and guns. The combat modules are typically equipped with two GSh-30K (AO-18K) six-barrel 30 mm

rotary cannon A rotary cannon, rotary autocannon, rotary gun or Gatling cannon, is any large-caliber multiple-barreled automatic firearm that uses a Gatling-type rotating barrel assembly to deliver a sustained saturational direct fire at much greater ra ...

s, with a link-less feeding mechanism, and two 9M311-1 missile launchers equipped with 4 ready-to-fire missiles each and fed by a reloading system storing 32 missiles in ready-to-launch containers. The guns used in the Kortik are the GSh-30K six-barrel 30 mm rotary cannon. Individually, each GSh-30K has a higher rate of fire compared to guns used by other CIWS such as the GAU-8 on the

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

and the

M61 Vulcan The M61 Vulcan is a Hydraulic machinery, hydraulically, electrically, or pneumatics, pneumatically driven, six-Gun barrel, barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling gun, Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm caliber, rounds at an e ...

on the

Phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

. Along with a high rate of fire, the fairly heavy round () used by the Kortik is comparable to the DPU rounds of the GAU-8 Avenger (), although the muzzle velocity (and therefore both the kinetic energy and effective range) is slightly lower, partially offsetting the high caliber and rate of fire. The missiles used in the Kortik are the 9M311, which are also used on the 2K22 Tunguska. The 9M311 is an ACLOS guided missile. The warhead weighs and is either laser or radio fused. The warhead is a

continuous-rod warhead A continuous-rod warhead is a specialized munition exhibiting an annular blast fragmentation pattern, thus when exploding it spreads into a large circle cutting through the target. It is used in anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles. Early an ...

with a steel cube fragmentation layer. The detonation of the warhead will form a complete circle of fragmentation that is 5 meters in radius, and damage or destroy anything in that circle. The combination of the missiles and guns provides more comprehensive protection when compared to other CIWS utilising either missiles or guns only. The system's combined kill probability is allegedly 0.96 to 0.99.

Variants

*Kashtan-M: improved variant with: **

Salvo A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute. As a tactic in warfare, the intent is to cripple an enemy in many blows at once and prevent them from f ...

capability **Dedicated targeting station **Two AO-18KD cannons with higher

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/ shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately t ...

(range improved from 4 to 5 km) **Improved missile range and engagement altitude (from 8 to 10 km for range and from 3.5 to 6 km altitude) **Decreased system's reaction time from 6.8 to 5.7 seconds **Sensor modularity **Lower sensitivity **Vulnerable to air to ground missiles and more than 900 pound bombs.

Specifications

Operators

Current operators

* * *

Former operators

Notes

References

* "2001 Russian Export Arms Catalog"

External links

30×165mm
— Russian Ammunition Page
Air Defence Missile-Gun System “KASHTAN-M”
— RATEP

— Navy Recognition

— Military Russia

— Оружие России

— Оружие России * ttp://pvo.guns.ru/naval/kashtan-m.htm Ракетно-артиллерийский комплекс «Каштан»— Вестник ПВО
Ракетно-артиллерийский комплекс 3М87 «Кортик» (SA-N-11 Grison)
— Вестник ПВО {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Naval weapons of Russia 30 mm artillery Naval radars Rotary cannon Close-in weapon systems Naval anti-aircraft guns * Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Surface-to-air missiles of the Soviet Union KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Tulamashzavod products Military equipment introduced in the 1980s