|
     
|
Issue 32. March - April 1999 | |
|
RUSSIAN DESERT FOX HUNTERS |
|||
Vladimir Svetlov, Member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, |
|||
 |
|||
In the near future, the latest versions of the ADM systems, ground-based and shipborne, will receive the new 9M96E and 9M96E2 missiles developed by the Fakel Engineering Design Bureau. |
|||
|
|||
 he military actions that have taken place over the last decade have typically been limited-scale, air offensive operations which were well-coordinated both in time and space, and involving the mass employment of precision-guided munitions. It should be emphasized, however, that such operations are only possible if the opposing action initiated by a defender s air defense assets are insignificant. Today, one can hardly name a state in which just a few precisely delivered missile-bomb attacks on their most vulnerable installations such as nuclear power plants, dams, control centers, warehouses, etc. would not mean a nationwide disaster resulting in serious environmental devastation, as well as other extremely grave consequences. The ravage caused by such attacks is comparable with nuclear aftermath, causing irreparable damage both to the nature and economic infPACtructure.
What all this means is that effective protection against possible air attacks must continue to be of vital importance to all nations. The strategic, tactical and maritime aviation airplanes and helicopters armed with various precision-guided missiles and bombs, as well as the missiles fired from ships are the basic components of modern air attack assets. Today, any modernization or development program envisions extensive use of stealth technology to make aircraft undetectable by radar and enhance their rates of survivability (use of armor-protected pilot cabins; protection of fuel tanks, autopilots, control systems against fragments, etc.). The effectiveness of modern air defense (AD) systems is largely dependent upon their ability to counter tactical ballistic missiles currently operational in more than a dozen states. The substantial differences between aircraft and missiles in their performance characteristics and methods of combat employment, demand a solution of specific and, often, almost contradictory problems. Ballistic missiles are primarily noted for their high speed and the extremely short time that they are in an AD coverage zone, the unpredictability of their employment due to the difficulty of detecting mobile missile launchers, and the inability to detect a missile launch. The low vulnerability of ballistic missiles, achieved due to their specific design features and small dimensions of main components, is also becoming a factor. This was vividly demonstrated by the repulsion of Iraqi Scuds by U.S.-made Patriot missles. Cruise missiles, and other precision-guided missiles, may be considered somewhat antipodal to ballistic missiles. They fly at an extremely low altitude (including in the terrain-following mode), and their large radius of action and high target accuracy alone presents a severe problem for the defender. Furthermore, recent dramatic breakthroughs in electronics have allowed designers to create highly accurate weapons with a standoff launching range far beyond the reach of the majority of AD systems currently in service. Modernization and development programs of such weapons call for the introduction of stealth technology into their design, the reduction of the weight of onboard equipment, the employment of low-sensitivity explosive compounds to enhance survivability and, consequently, to increase the weight of the warhead and the flight range. Presently, a whole range of antiship and other low-flying supersonic missiles capable of performing intensive approach maneuvers are either in the design or flight-test stages. Naturally, designers of ADM systems the world over are trying to solve the complex engineering problem of countering targets of various classes through the use of multipurpose ADM systems which are capable of effectively engaging ballistic and aerodynamic targets. Development of weapons systems suited for this role can be justified from the engineering, tactical and economic viewpoints. The world s best ADM systems which can perform a whole range of missions are the Russian S-300, U.S.-made Patriot (version PAC-2) and Patriot PAC-3 nearing adoption for service, as well as the Franco-Italian SAMP/T with the Aster-15 and Aster-30 missiles. In Russia, multipurpose ADM systems have, for years, been developed by an association of manufacturers, research institutes, and design bureaus. In recents years, their cooperative effort has led to such operational ADM systems as the S-300PMU, -1, -2, and their shipborne versions, designated Rif and Rif-M. These systems integrate, to a maximum possible degree, the abilities that make them effective against ballistic and aerodynamic targets. In the near future, the latest versions of the ADM systems, ground-based and shipborne, will receive the new 9M96E and 9M96E2 missiles developed by the Fakel Engineering Design Bureau and incorporated in the Oboronitelnye Systemy (Defense Systems) Ffinancial and Industrial Group.
Today, new generation of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) have come to replace their predecessors. This tendency manifests itself most vividly in the replacement of medium-range SAMs which constitute the backbone of air defense systems in the majority of the world s most developed nations. While basic components of the ADM systems such as radars, communications systems, and command posts are being improved gradually, surface-to-air missiles have made a dramatic qualitative leap forward in their development. This is primarily attributed to the revolutionary advances that have been made in the missile flight control methods and in the on-board equipment itself. | |||
 |
|
In the light of this situation, the development of air defense missile systems has been given top priority over the last few years. Indeed, their availability and conformity with up-to-date standards, or, conversely, their obsolescence or mere deficiency, predetermine, to a large extent, the behavior of a state on the international arena and influence its ability to respond adequately to the emerging conflicts in which air attack assets are likely to be used. Such countries and regions as Lybia, the Balkans, Sudan, Afghanistan or Iraq, which has now turned into a testing ground for the latest technological developments in the field of air attack capabilities, are just a few examples over the past years, confirming this premise. The events materializing around the Russian-made S-300PMU 1 air defense missile (ADM) system, planned to be delivered to Cyprus, may be added to the list.
