2S6 Tunguska

“Tunguska” (MMAC index – 2K22, NATO classification – SA-19 Grison) is a Soviet and Russian anti-aircraft missile and gun system (SAM), an anti-aircraft self-propelled gun (ASG) developed by the Tula Instrument-Making Design Bureau.

On March 26, 1963, a technical council chaired by N.A. Astrov was held in Mytishchi near Moscow. It was decided to increase the caliber of the ZSU from 23 to 30 mm. This doubled (from 1,000 to 2,000 meters) the zone of 50 percent probability of hitting the target and increased the range from 2,500 to 4,000 meters. The effectiveness of firing at a MiG-17 fighter flying at an altitude of 1,000 meters at a speed of 200-250 m/s increased by 1.5 times.

Eventually, the 30-mm AT-17 double-barreled assault rifle was selected for the modernized anti-aircraft system. Its revised version was given the 2A38 index by the State Research and Production Association and was put into mass production at Tula Machine-Building Plant No. 535 in the early 1980s.

However, after almost seven years of design and development work, it was decided to abandon the modernization of Shilka and create a fundamentally new complex. On June 8, 1970, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued Resolution No. 427-151 on the creation of the new Tunguska missile system.

The main developer of the Tunguska was the Instrument Design Bureau (IDB), with the chief designer being A.G. Shipunov. Specifically, IDB was responsible for the missile and artillery part of the system, while the design of the radar system was led by the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant of the Ministry of Radio Industry, which later became the main manufacturer. The countermeasure device was developed by the Scientific Research Electromechanical Institute of the Ministry of Radio Industry. The GM-352 tracked chassis was manufactured by the Minsk Tractor Plant.

The 2S6 Tunguska anti-aircraft system was adopted by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on September 8, 1982, and the modernized Tunguska-M system by an order of the Minister of Defence on April 11, 1990.

Production of the 2S6M Tunguska is ongoing. Vehicles of this type are in service with the armies of Ukraine, Russia, India, and others.

The missile guidance system is a semi-automatic radio command system with an optical communication line, operating on letter frequencies that are prepared in advance before the missile is launched.

• Ukraine - 70 2C6, as of 2010
• Belarus - 30 2C6, as of 2006
• Russia - 256 2C6
• Yemen - several units
• Morocco - 12 2C6, as of 2010
• India - 20 to 80 2C6s, as of 2006