1B75 Penicillin is an acoustic-thermal artillery-reconnaissance system developed by Ruselectronics for the Russian Armed Forces. The system is designed to detect and locate enemy artillery, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), and anti-aircraft or tactical missile firing positions using seismic and acoustic sensors without emitting any radio waves. This capability allows it to locate enemy fire within 5 seconds at a range of 25 kilometers (16 miles; 13 nautical miles). Penicillin completed state trials in December 2018 and entered combat duty in 2020.
Design
The Penicillin system is mounted on the 8×8 Kamaz-6350 chassis. It consists of a 1B75 sensor suite placed on a telescopic boom for infrared and visible spectrum detection, as well as several ground-installed seismic and acoustic receivers, which are part of the 1B76 sensor suite. This setup allows the system to effectively communicate with other military assets up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) away and operate fully automatically without any crew if necessary. One system can reportedly cover an entire division against enemy fire, and coordinate, and correct friendly artillery fire.
Operators
- Russia
- Russian Ground Forces
References
- Cranny-Evans, Samuel (5 December 2018). “Russia’s Penicillin artillery reconnaissance system completes state trials”. Jane’s Defence Weekly. ISSN 0265-3818. OCLC 613908494. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- В российскую армию поступил новейший комплекс артиллерийской разведки «Пенициллин» [The newest artillery reconnaissance complex “Penicillin” entered the Russian army]. Центр анализа стратегий и технологий [Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies]. 22 January 2021.
- “Penicillin”. deagel.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- Sudakov, Dmitry (19 May 2017). “Russia works on powerful ‘Penicillin’ pill for enemy guns”. Pravda.ru. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2022.