MEANS, STANDS AND MACHINES FOR TESTING GEAR WHEELS AND GEAR TRAINS OF HELICOPTER REDUCTION TRAINS

The production and repair of such high-tech and important products as helicopters‟ reduction trains is impossible without comprehensive testing of these products, starting with the manufacture of their individual parts and assemblies and ending with the delivery of reduction trains to the customer. Various means for testing of gear wheels‟ rims and gear trains of helicopter‟s reduction trains, which have found application in testing equipment, are presented. Devices, testers, stands and machines for various tests are considered in order to control the characteristics of gear trains of aviation reduction trains after certain periods of their operation and repair, aimed at achieving better performance during further operation. The considered traditional metrological means of control of gear rims, gear measuring machines and complexes, some stands and machines for testing of reduction trains, pulse controllers and roll machines give an idea of various methods and means of control of gear wheels and gear trains of helicopters‟ reduction trains. The main method of experimental research of gear trains of reducers is stand tests both on movable gear wheels and on roll machines. Until recently, the most common method for monitoring and diagnosing gear trains has been vibrography, however, existing techniques do not give an accurate picture of the train condition, especially the contact surface of the teeth. During the operation of the gear train as a part of the helicopter‟s reduction train, signals from other sources (rotors, blades, shafts, bearings) are superimposed on the vibration signal generated by the gear train which significantly complicates the extraction and processing of the desired vibration signal. One of the most effective methods for monitoring and diagnosing the technical condition of kinematic chains of different complexity, which includes gear trains of helicopters„ reducers is kinematometry. The disadvantage of traditional kinematometry is the need to use high-precision sensors for the frequency and phase of the rotor rotation. Control of vibration from the early 1990s to the present time is the most advanced control, the means and methods of which are well developed in the aviation industry.

ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE APPLICATION OF MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTION SYSTEMS

Analysis of combat losses of aircraft in local armed conflicts in recent decades shows that most cases of aircraft hits are related to the impact of guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles equipped with homing warheads. The use of modern guided missiles equipped with homing warheads is one of the main threats to aircraft of various types. This is due to the fact that modern guided missiles are characterized by high speed, maneuverability, accuracy of aiming and difficulty of detection. Solving the problem of protecting aircraft from guided missiles consists of several stages: detection of missile launch; confirmation that the detected missile is heading directly toward the protected object; missile identification and decision-making on the most effective countermeasure system employment. At present, there are no missile launch detection systems that guarantee a 100% probability of threat detection, but an analysis of aviation combat losses in local armed conflicts in recent decades convincingly shows that the number of combat losses of aircraft equipped with such systems is much lower than those in which missile launch detection is carried out visually. For example, most of the Soviet Union's losses during the war in Afghanistan and the United States‟ losses during Operation “Desert Storm” in Iraq were related to the use of portable anti-aircraft missile systems, which missiles were equipped with infrared homing warheads. Realizing the scale of the threat posed by such missiles, most of the world's leading countries have significantly increased the expenses on development new or improvement existing countermeasures. As a result, the aggregate losses of coalition forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria since 2001 clearly suggest that these costs have paid off, with losses from the use of portable anti-aircraft missile systems significantly reduced, while the total number of combat sorties increased. Therefore, in the face of all the challenges and threats posed to Ukraine due to the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation, conducting research in the interests of aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to improve the effectiveness of missile detection systems for ensuring timely detection of threats, warning of aircraft crew and activation in the automatic mode the means of countermeasures is as relevant as ever.

METHOD OF CONTROLLING PRESENCE OF FOREIGN SUBSTANCES AND OBJECTS IN THE BORE OF THE BARREL USING MONOCHROME LIGHT

In the article, the authors propose a method for controlling the presence of foreign substances and objects inside the barrel. The problem of surface cleanliness control remains relevant in many areas, ranging from sanitary cleaning to nanoelectronics. In the military sphere, this becomes particularly important during the cleaning of cannon barrels. Both powder combustion products and cartridge cap and bullet shell particles are deposited in the barrel during firing from guns. Under the impact of high temperatures, the bullet particles are partially oxidized and cover the barrel channel with a thin layer of deposit of oxides, which are difficult to dissolve. As a result, the density of the bullet abuting the walls changes. This affects the characteristics of its motion inside the barrel. The accuracy of the shot is reduced, and subsequently the precision and accuracy of shooting in general decreases. The essence of the proposed method consists in the fact that a light source is placed in the bore of the barrel on one side, and an optical device is placed on the other side, with the help of which the presence of foreign substances and objects is monitored. Unlike the known methods, this method is characterized in that several monochrome light sources in addition are placed in turn in the bore of the barrel from the breech part, and in the bore of the barrel from the muzzle part there is equipment for receiving (detecting) monochrome light. Then, obtained monochrome light is analyzed, current value of its defined parameters is determined. At the next stage, parameter values of monochrome light fixed during control are compared with parameter values of reference signatures, which had been obtained before the barrel was put in service. These values are stored in equipment memory. If the values of at least one of the parameters from at least one of the monochrome light sources are found to be inconsistent with the parameters of the reference signatures, the equipment for receiving and analyzing monochrome light gives a signal about the presence of foreign substances and objects in the bore of the barrel.

APPROACH TO THE FORMALIZATION OF THE PROCESS OF CONDUCTING SPECIAL ACTIONS BY A SPECIAL FORCES UNIT USING THE ANALYTICAL-STOCHASTIC MODEL.

The current realities of the military-political situation in the world comprise the emergence of a significant number of new contradictions of various natures between states and entire regions, and in some countries acute territorial, religious and ethnic confrontations that have led to a number of armed conflicts. In addition, international terrorism, drug smuggling, illegal arms trade and organized crime pose serious threats today. The emergence of these threats brings the necessity of drastic changes in approaches to resolving them. A significant share in the settlement of these conflicts belongs to the Special Operations Forces, which is the youngest and most advanced component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors identify one of the main problems that is the lack of a unified approach to the formalization of the process of conducting special actions. The purpose of this article is to form a mathematical model of the process of conducting special actions by the unit of Special Operations Forces during the planning and conducting of special operation. The authors propose an approach to the formalization of the process of conducting special actions by a special forces unit, using an analytical- stochastic model.

ON CALCULATION OF OXYGEN BALANCE OF MULTICOMPONENT THERMOBARIC EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE

Most modern military confrontations take place near or directly in inhabited area. The use in such conditions of munition (warheads) which hit typical targets based on fragmentation (high-explosive) or cumulative action is impractical due to insufficient “selectivity” of hitting targets with such munition. At present, modern world tendency is the development of the latest munition (warheads) with increased properties of “destruction selectivity”. One of the directions is the development of munition based on thermobaric explosives. Such munitions can cause maximum damage due to high temperature and the impact of a shock wave with a low level of collateral damage, since thermobaric munition, especially in the open area, have a clearly defined or even limited area of effective damage, which determines the significance of their further development. Since modern thermobaric explosives include a large number of chemical elements (including chemically active metals), there is a need to calculate the physical balance of oxygen and oxygen coefficient to take into account the physical characteristics of modern multicomponent thermobaric explosives. The oxygen balance of multicomponent thermobaric explosives largely determines the nature of the reaction of its explosive transformation, i.e the composition of the explosive products and, consequently, the value of thermodynamic characteristics such as heat, temperature, volume and pressure of gas-like explosive products. The calculated ratio and coefficients for complex multicomponent thermobaric explosives should be calculated during the development of explosives, taking into account the composition of components and elements and their possible chemical reactions during the explosion. The abovementioned improved calculations of oxygen balance and oxygen coefficient of thermobaric explosives, which include aluminum, allows taking into account the physical characteristics of destruction of typical targets by thermobaric munitions.

DEVELOPMENT OF A HOLISTIC METHODOLOGY FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMED FORCES BASED ON CAPABILITIES

Based on the results of the study, a scientific and applied problem was formulated, a hypothesis (multifactorial) was advanced, and partial scientific tasks were identified to develop a holistic methodology for strategic planning of the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on capabilities. The relevance of the study is due to the emergence of new problems in the field of defense and military development, a decrease in the objectivity of strategic decision-making in determining and adjusting the development strategy of the Armed Forces in the long term, and the effectiveness of strategic planning for the development of the Armed Forces as a whole through the introduction of capabilities-based planning methodology in the defense forces. The requirements of modern regulatory legal acts of Ukraine regarding the introduction of planning based on the capabilities, functions of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the tasks of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Defense Review (a temporary subsidiary body of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine) are analyzed. The reasons for the emergence of problems in the construction and development of the Armed Forces are investigated, as well as contradictions in the definition and adjustment of the strategy for the development of the capabilities of the Armed Forces for the long term are revealed. The strategic planning of the development of the Armed Forces and defense planning are differentiated according to the goal, results and responsibility between the subjects of planning. The scientific and applied problem lies in the need to develop a concept of strategic planning for the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on the capabilities, a set of special methods, techniques and approaches to determine and adjust the strategy for the development of the capabilities of the Armed Forces in the long term. A research hypothesis (multifactorial) about the conditions for achieving the effectiveness of strategic planning for the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the basis of capabilities is put forward and partial scientific tasks are identified, which will be devoted to further research.

ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF RADIO COMMUNICATION CHANNELS OF UNMANNED AERIAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) allow effective solving the problems of reconnaissance, relaying information on targets to means of fire destruction and striking on any type of object. However, there are many problematic issues regarding the creation of a communication system for remote control of UAV of medium and long range, obtaining video information about reconnaissance objects in real time. The methods allow to estimate the value of the deviation of the carrier frequency of the transmitter of the radio communication channel of unmanned aerial system (UAS) in the normal mode of its operation from the value of the prototype stated by the Developer based on the instrumental measurement of the average or assigned frequency of modulated radio emission. The purpose of the article is to consider the methods, technical means and conditions of instrumental evaluation of the radio emission frequency of UAV‟s radio channels transmitters by means of radio frequency control. This technique defines a set of procedures and rules for instrumental evaluation (measurement) of radio frequency of UAVs prototypes radio transmitters by means of radio frequency control in order to verify compliance of its parameters with the requirements of technical conditions or specifications for experimental aircraft.

DETERMINATION OF OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY INDICATORS OF AVIATION EQUIPMENT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ICAO RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of the developed technique for estimation of aviation equipment reliability indicators, the results of determination of orientating reliability indicators of helicopters and their functional systems are presented. The list and the main reasons for the change of reliability indicators for 2016–2020 are determined.

THE CONCEPT OF EVALUATION OF MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE RELIABILITY FACTORS OF STATE AVIATION HELICOPTERS

The aim of the study is to develop and determine the maximum acceptable reliability factor of state aviation helicopters based on statistics on malfunctions that occur during the operation of the aviation materiel, taking into account the recommendations of ICAO. The paper defines the general criteria for calculating the limit values of reliability (operational reliability and flight safety). For their implementation it is necessary: to carry out constant monitoring of flight safety and the general reasons which cause emergence of malfunctions of helicopters, their systems and subsystems; to use the proposed combined model on the principle of "traffic light" to determine the level of flight safety indicators at their standard deviation when justifying decisions on the forecast for future periods of operation and establishing certain values of forecast indicators of the "upper control limit" of operational Based on the adopted conceptual approach to determining the dynamics of change in failure rates, quantitative criteria are developed. Proposals to determine the indicators of the technical condition during the military operation of the aircraft will maintain high combat readiness of state aviation at a given level, predict the need for maintenance and repair and predict the timing and direction of modernization of aircraft.

DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS OF RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR TURRET BALL BEARING RING OF A BMP-2 INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLE

A large part of BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles needs to replace turret ball bearing rings. Under realization of replacement of spare parts and components made in Russia with domestic ones, KNVO "Fort" MVO Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine made an experimental batch of balls for turret ball bearing rings of infantry fighting vehicles BMP type. As a result of modernization of a turret ball bearing ring, steel balls were replaced with balls made of composite material. A turret ball bearing is a large radial thrust bearing, cages of which are turret races. A stabile lower race is fixed by means of screws to a top of the vehicle‟s hull. Above the fixed race there is a movable upper race to which the turret is bolted. A method for assessing the reliability of turret ball bearing rings of military armored vehicles was developed. The results of tests of turret ball bearing rings of BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle tower are given. The reliability of turret ball bearing rings of armored vehicles was assessed taking into account the damage to the balls. The main types of damage to the balls: non-compliance of balls average diameter and non-compliance of the spherical shape of the ball to the requirements of operating documentation. The impact of the probability of no-failure operation of the balls on the durability of the ball bearing is determined. It is necessary to take into account the presence of damage to the balls when determining the durability of the ball bearing. To validate the adequacy of the method, it is necessary to increase the test time of the ball bearing by conducting tests during its operation.