Starshel

R-045/R-046 Starshel (Bulgarian: Стършел, Hornet) is a type of electronic countermeasures ammunition, fired by 122 mm or 152 mm artillery guns, respectively. It is designed to completely disrupt enemy radio communications on the battlefield.

Contents

Design and deployment

The Starshel rounds were developed and deployed in the early 1980s and were operationally deployed in the mid-80s. By the mid-1990s the rounds were issued to every artillery unit in the Bulgarian army as special ammunitions. A full jamming kit consists of several rounds, covering a jamming range of 20 to 100 KHz (with 5 rounds) for the R-045 and from 1,5 to 120 kHz (with 8 rounds) for the R-046. The fins of the round are deployed in-flight. After contact with the ground, an automatic fuze fires the 1,5 meter-long antenna up, which is powered by a small lithium-ion battery for at least an hour. The effective jamming range is at least 700 m. Usually 1 or 2 Starshel kits are used to completely jam enemy front-line communications on a tactical scale.

Specifications

Compatible artillery

Bold indicates equipment, which is currently in service with the Bulgarian military

R-045

R-046

References