The Kashtan close-in weapon system (CIWS) is a modern naval air defense gun-missile
system deployed by the Russian Navy.
It is found on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, Kirov class battlecruisers, Neustrashimy
class frigates, People's Liberation Army Navy Sovremenny class destroyers, and Indian Talwar
class frigates, and other modern designs.
Most typically deployed as a combined gun and missile system, it provides defense against
anti-ship missiles, 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 onshore.
The weapon is a modular system comprising a command module and typically 2 combat modules,
although the number can be as many as 8 in the case of Admiral Kuznetsov or the Indian
Vikramaditya.
The command module detects and tracks threats, distributes targeting data to the combat modules,
and interrogates IFF 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, electro-optronic control system
(such as FLIRs) or both, and then engage targets with missiles and guns.
The combat modules are typically equipped with two GSh-30K (AO-18K) six-barrel 30mm
rotary cannons, fed by a link-less feeding mechanism, and two 9M311 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 Kashtan are the GSh-30K six-barrel 30 mm rotary cannon.
Individually, each GSh-30K has a higher rate of fire compared to other guns used by other
CIWS such as the GAU-8 on the Goalkeeper and the M61 Vulcan on the Phalanx.
Along with a high rate of fire, the fairly heavy round used by the Kashtan is comparable
to the DU round of the GAU-8 Avenger, although the muzzle velocity (and therefore both the
kinetic impact and effective range) is slightly lower, partially offsetting the high caliber
and rate of fire.
The missiles used in the Kashtan are the 9M311 missiles, which are also used on the 9K22
Tunguska.
The 9M311 is a SACLOS guided missile, however, it is steered automatically by the command
module.
The warhead weighs 9 kilograms and is either laser or radio fuzed.
The warhead is a continuous-rod warhead 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 utilizing either missiles or guns only.
The system's combined kill probability is 0.96 to 0.99.
Russian media is reporting that the long-awaited upgrade of the Kashtan close-in weapon system
(CIWS).
Trials will start on a land range before moving to the sea aboard one of Russia's Project
1241 Molniya missile corvettes in the Black Sea.
The country's new Project 22800 Karakurt corvettes will be the first vessels to receive the system
operationally once testing is complete.
Panstir-ME appears to be something of a mix between the potent Pantsir-S1 land-mobile
self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery gun system and existing Kashtan CIWS installations
found on many Russian-built naval vessels dating back to the Cold War.
It uses a modified version of the Pantsir's 1RS2-1E phased array radar system as well
as an electro-optical/infrared targeting and identification system mounted above the radar
in a similar fashion as seen on many of its ground-based cousins.
There is no early warning radar system directly attached to the Panstir-M mount, like the
RS1-E1 mounted on many Pantsir-S1 vehicles.
Instead, early warning will be provided by the ship's radar suite and/or by a similar
detached early warning radar mounted elsewhere on the ship.
The system's own radar can also provide early warning detection as well as fire control
functions over a more limited sector of fire.
Its main armament includes a naval version of the Pantsir's 57E6-E surface-to-air missile.
This is a two-stage missile that can hit targets (aircraft, cruise missiles, drones) from half
a mile to ten miles away, and from just a number of feet above the surface up to nearly
30,000 feet.
These missiles are carried in four tubes on each side of the turret, and like Kashtan,
twin rotating magazines below deck can reload each side four times over automatically within
a matter of seconds.
32 missiles in total are carried.
Pantsir-ME will also be able to fire the Hermes-K surface-to-surface missile.
Presumably, these missiles would be outfitted on the Pantsir-ME when the vessel is operating
in littoral areas where small boat swarming attacks are possible, or when nearby shore
strikes are required.
The Hermes-K can be outfitted with a semi-active laser seeker so that near over-the-horizon
targets can be hit precisely if a forward operating unit—such a drone, aircraft, or
special operations team—is lasing the target with a laser designator.
Because of the system's unique twin-magazine configuration, a mix of both missiles could
be carried operationally.
Pantsir-ME's other primary armament includes a pair of very hard-hitting GSh-30K six-barrel
30mm rotary cannons that can spew up to 6,000 rounds a minute each.
This high volume of fire can be used to shatter incoming anti-ship missiles, aircraft, drones,
or small boats.
These are the same cannons found on Kashtan, and they deviate from the land-based Pantsir-S1
design, which uses the lower rate of fire, twin-barreled, 2A38M 30mm cannons.
The system can operate autonomously or it can
be tied to a network of similar mounts scattered around a larger vessel.
It can also be integrated into the ships larger overall combat system.
This flexibility allows the system to be fielded on everything from corvettes, to frigates,
to destroyers, to Kirov class battlecruisers.
Russia's sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is currently undergoing a refit
that will supposedly include installing Pantsir-ME in place of its eight existing Kashtan-M CIWS
systems.
According to Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov each Pantsir-ME mount can engage four targets simultaneously,
and will have a probability of kill three to four times greater than existing Kashtan-M
installations.
Like Kashtan before it, the Pantsir-ME is unique in that it integrates both a highly-agile
missile and a rapid-firing CIWS gun system into a single package, and features weapons
redundancy on every mount.
With a much needed refresh to its control interface, its sensors, and its missiles,
Russia has executed on a fairly brilliant plan that will build on the Kashtan in a logical
way while also using existing components to decrease costs and lower development and integration
risk.
Altogether, this new system will allow Russia to maintain credible kinetic CIWS defenses
into the coming decades as the Pantsir-ME will also likely benefit to some degree from
upgrades made on its land-based counterpart.