MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russia’s advanced Penicillin acoustic-thermal reconnaissance system helps its troops to detect enemy targets and confirm their destruction in the course of the special military operation, a commander of a Penicillin crew said in a video posted by the Russian Defense Ministry.

"This system is designed to detect the enemy with the help of acoustics, to spot the enemy’s actions, such as salvoes from cannons, howitzers, HIMARS and so on. After that, coordinates are reported to the command post, which makes the decision on whether the enemy should be destroyed immediately or further reconnaissance is required," he said.

"Sometimes <…> it [the target] not just a standalone weapon, there may be more in the vicinity, that is, a cluster target. The system can be used to destroy a cluster target. After that, we confirm target destruction, observing our own incoming strikes," he added.

About the system

The Penicillin system was developed by NII Vector (part of the Ruselectronics holding of the state-run corporation Rostec). It was designed for detecting firing positions of artillery, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, and enemy launch sites of anti-aircraft and tactical missiles, while also spotting for the friendly artillery.

Unlike most systems of its kind, the Penicillin automated artillery and army reconnaissance system can detect hostile artillery thanks to a new principle of combination of thermal and sound reconnaissance rather than with the help of radars. This makes electronic counter-measures impossible. The system fixes acoustic and thermal signals from gunshots and bursts, issues accurate coordinates for the location of guns and puts them on an electronic map.

First systems were delivered to the Russian armed forces in late 2020.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on several occasions that Penicillin was being successfully used in counter-battery warfare in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, helping to detect and destroy Ukrainian self-propelled artillery and howitzers. Obtaining coordinates of a single target takes less than 5 seconds. Therefore, the enemy’s firing position is exposed seconds after the first attack, and Russian artillery can destroy it with return fire.