So I know about the TOR system, and it’s fearsome reputation as a point defense weapon. I’ve seen all the videos and pictures of the system, but I still can’t figure out where the 8 missiles it carries actually fire from.
I know the missiles launch vertically, and in the pictures you can see what look like 4 trap like doors on each side of the upper turret. But the turret turns, so there’s no way those missiles come out of those doors. Does the turret revolve around some sort of launching bin that spans between both the lower vehicle and the upper turret? I know the system is based on a naval SAM system, or vise versa, and some Russian naval anti-aircraft missiles are launched out of a vertically stacked cylinder, like a revolver chamber standing on end, is that what’s in use on the TOR?
Does anyone have a picture of the vehicle looking down on the turret from above?
By: 1MAN - 28th July 2008 at 00:32
Tor M2 to be supplied to Russian Forces in 09
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071225/94119712.html
By: Mercurius - 26th July 2008 at 17:36
The missiles are carried in two four-round magazines mounted one behind the other, with each set of four taking up most of the width of the turret. They are located just behind the tracking/guidance radar and well to the front of the surveillance radar.
By: wengy - 23rd July 2008 at 17:53
Thanks – that’s some good info
Thanks PLA Wolf, that was very informative, and helpful. I didn’t know they used a GM tracked vehicle as the basis.
By: plawolf - 22nd July 2008 at 19:43
So the missiles are stacked in two rows of four, and the bin extends down into the chassis of the vehicle. So the bin must rotate with the turret, and the lower half of the bin which is in the chassis, must rotate in some sort of circular mounting? Complicated….and not a whole lot of shots available, how long does it take to reload? I saw a picture of them reloading a stack of four, it doesn’t look fast. Are there special purpose vehicles for reloading and carrying spare rounds?
The turret, like any tank turret, has a large connection ring linking the turret to the chassis. That ring is large enough to fit the missiles in, so all that is needed is for the missile racks be to attached to the turret and nothing else is needed to allow the turret to turn freely. The number of missiles that can be carried is almost certainly to have been partically decided by the size of the connection ring of the GM-569 tracked vehicle whos chassis the Tor uses.
As for reloading, yes, there are special reloading vehicals.
http://www.sinodefence.com/army/surfacetoairmissile/showimage.asp?imagename=torm1_04large
But you need to remember that Tors never operate alone, but in batteries with 4 TVLs. More important targets could be protected by several batteries or even entire battalions of 3-5 batteries each. Considering Tors are short range point defence missiles, 32 x 3-5 should be more then enough to protect a target against all but the most determined of saturation attacks.
Regarding moving the engagement radar, well that thing isn’t small, and you also need the tracking radar, both on the turret would take up a lot of space and could easily interfer with each other. Had the Russians wanted to, they could have designed a brand new chassis to handle 12, 16 or more missiles, but it was cheaper to adapt an existing chassis for the role, and as meantioned before, batteries of Tors should have more then enough missiles. Besides, having more missiles in a single TVL raises the cost of each vehical and also likely reduces the number of TVLs per battery, which is not good for battlefield surviverability and system redundency.
By: wengy - 22nd July 2008 at 17:54
Turret
I guess if it wasn’t for the engagement radar on the front of the turret, they could simply do without the rotating turret, thus doing away with all the equipment necessary to make the turret rotate. That would give them more room to stack missiles into the vehicle. But because the engagement radar needs to be turned towards the target, the turret needs to rotate. Why not mount the engagement radar on it’s own turning mount, like the tracking radar?
By: wengy - 22nd July 2008 at 17:50
Missile bin
So the missiles are stacked in two rows of four, and the bin extends down into the chassis of the vehicle. So the bin must rotate with the turret, and the lower half of the bin which is in the chassis, must rotate in some sort of circular mounting? Complicated….and not a whole lot of shots available, how long does it take to reload? I saw a picture of them reloading a stack of four, it doesn’t look fast. Are there special purpose vehicles for reloading and carrying spare rounds?
By: Distiller - 22nd July 2008 at 07:38
By: Gollevainen - 22nd July 2008 at 06:56
I don’t have any pictures at my hands now, but the missiles are stowed vertically in packs of four in a row in the middle of the turret.
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July 22, 2008 at 1:03 am