Click to see full-size image. (Rostec/Telegram)
Russia’s state defense conglomerate Rostec said its new TKB-1167 air defense system is already on combat duty and has been used to destroy real targets, presenting the weapon as a short-range layer of defense against drones attacking infrastructure.
The system, developed by Rostec’s High-Precision Systems holding, is designed to operate as a “last line of defense” when an unmanned aircraft has reached close proximity to a protected facility, according to a statement released September 9.
“The TKB-1167 is actually the last line of defense that comes in when every second counts,” Bekhan Ozdoev, industrial director of Rostec’s weapons cluster, said in an earlier company description of the system.
Rostec said the TKB-1167 is intended to address small, low-flying targets that can be difficult for conventional air defense systems to engage. The system uses PKT machine guns firing 7.62 mm ammunition rather than automatic cannon rounds or missiles.
The company said the system can automatically detect and lock onto a drone and provide target designation to its machine-gun mounts. The operator’s role is then limited to deciding whether to engage the target.
Rostec said the system’s automation is intended to reduce reaction time during drone attacks, when targets may be detected only shortly before reaching a protected site.
Click to see full-size image. (Rostec/Telegram)
The TKB-1167 is also designed to operate as part of a layered air defense network rather than solely as a standalone weapon. According to Rostec, it can receive information from external radar stations, electro-optical detection systems and other air defense equipment while also contributing its own data to a common picture of the airspace.
That networked capability is intended to allow the system to cover the lowest layer of an air defense architecture, complementing longer-range systems that may be less suited to small drones flying at low altitude.
Rostec also emphasized the system’s mobility. Its modular design allows it to be mounted on wheeled platforms and moved between protected facilities or firing positions, the company said.
The system was designed to require relatively limited technical training for its crews, according to Rostec. The company said automation of detection and target tracking, together with the system’s modular construction and field maintainability, reduces deployment and maintenance requirements.
Click to see full-size image. (Rostec/Telegram)
A central selling point is the cost of the ammunition. Rostec said 7.62 mm ammunition is considerably cheaper and more readily available than ammunition for automatic anti-aircraft cannons.
That is particularly significant in sustained drone attacks, where the cost of intercepting a relatively inexpensive drone can become a major consideration. Rostec described the TKB-1167 as a response to what it called a central problem of modern drone warfare — the possibility that an attacking drone may cost less than the weapon used to destroy it.
Rostec has also promoted the TKB-1167 for international audiences. The system made its first overseas public presentation at the El Alamein International Airshow in Egypt, where High-Precision Systems said it would demonstrate the system as part of a broader layered approach to protecting infrastructure from drones.
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