The most ridiculous myths in the media regarding the prospects of the 5 generation that has got onto the wing
I would like to say from the outset that quite often the hype in the media does not always correspond to the real state of affairs in such complex issues as export of tactical supplies aviation 5th generation from manufacturing countries to third countries. Contracts for the sale of these aircraft usually go directly through the government of the state in which the fighter manufacturing corporation is located.
Before concluding a contract, specialists from the Ministry of Defense are working very closely to assess the feasibility of such a sale, that is, whether such a contract will bring military-political and strategic benefits, or some unique indicators and design features of the onboard electronic equipment of unique aircraft will be at risk of leaking and further copying . In the second case, the manufacturer refuses the customer to enter into a contract. A similar situation arose with the attempt of Japan to conclude a contract for the purchase of the X-NUMX F-5A Raptor generation fighters: the Americans refused to supply even the light-modified Raptors with simplified software or the AN radar to the Japanese Self-Defense Air Force / APG-22 or AN / APG-79, borrowed from Super Hornet.
This refusal is quite predictable, because the US Air Force has in the Far East and in the Asia-Pacific Region, and indeed there are several airfields in Japan and RK, to which they can independently overtake even the Raptor regiment from Alaska in a matter of hours and control the situation in the region . And this is understandable, F-22A was not intended for export, the price of supplying such an advanced machine to another country could be very serious, which cannot be said of the simpler "incubator" F-35A / B. The characteristics of these machines are very mediocre, the speed does not reach the 2's sound, the range is quite normal, the maneuverability is slightly better than that of the F-4E (except for the angle of attack provided by the computerized EMF) and only the optical-electronic infrared target designation DAS and Reduced heat / radar signatures provide some advantages in the long-range opposition to 4 ++ generation fighters, not counting of course the Su-35C, which with the help of the Irbis with Lightning and 150 km is split.
F-35A / B are exported both to the UK, and to Australia, and to Turkey, not by chance, their parameters for the States are no longer of particular value. For their Air Force, they plan to stamp over one and a half thousand cars, and, believe me, with the best software. Turkish just like their F-35A will not receive. But the most maneuverable deck F-35C (large wing area, turn speed, etc.), Americans have reserved only for their fleet and do not put up for export.
But there are also a number of other controversial issues that are spread on the Internet spaces of the Russian and Western Internet, some examples of which we now consider.
Last week, information was again published on Russian informational Internet resources that at the end of 2016, the Celestial Empire would receive our 4 4 ++ fighter Su-35 XNUMX. In this regard, many experts expressed concerns that China will use the technology of this machine in the further development of its fifth-generation fighter.
With this point of view, I kind of agree. Signed in 2015 year, through the "Rosoboronexport", a contract to supply China 24 super-maneuverable multi-role Su-35S also provides for the transfer of a standard set of avionics, which will include, and the most powerful in the world of on-board radar for N035 "Irbis-E" tactical fighters, and complex communication and tactical information exchange C-108, and ground-based air communication complex NKVS-27. The on-board data exchange system C-108 can be completely attributed to the equipment of the transitional generation: it allows the Su-35С to work smoothly both in pairs and in links, squadrons and regiments, coordinating information with the ground and air points of the RTR and the air defense through the channels encrypted by various methods communication (from pseudo-random tuning of the operating frequency to the Reed-Solomon code). The modern level of development of Chinese electronics allows producing similar C-108 complexes, and therefore sending it to China does not cause any particular concerns. On the T-50 PAK FA, which is unlikely to be exported, they will install a more sophisticated tactical connection complex C-111-H with qualitatively more advanced methods of encoding the transmitted information. In addition, the C-108 uses a simpler “Feed” type antenna-feeder system, and the C-111-H for the PAK FA has the more complex Aist-50 system. So, based on the C-108 communications complex of the Chengdu and Shenyang corporations, Russian secret technologies for the 5 generation cannot be copied.
Another thing is onboard radar Н035 "Irbis-E". Although modern Chinese fighters J-10B and J-15S are equipped with promising radars with AFAR, the element base of the PFARovsky Irbis continues to be of great interest to the Chinese, since its energy capabilities are even better on 20% than on the American AN / APG-77 radar . In addition, PFAR-RLS have their advantages, one of which is the mechanical adjustment of the antenna array for viewing the side and the rear hemisphere around the fighter. For radar with AFAR for such a review it is necessary to install additional smaller side-looking radars, which, at least a little, will make the car heavier.
In spite of everything, we should take the easy copying of the Irbis-E technology more calmly, and most of the experts' fears are contrived. China today is with us "in the same harness" in terms of confronting the global military-strategic domination of the United States and its allies. Both Russia and the PRC, for several years now, both in the dense ring of American naval / air bases and missile defense sites in the APR and the Atlantic, and our common task with the Chinese is to prevent this ring from becoming even smaller, or quickly break it if necessary. Therefore, I believe that the Irbis-E technology, which makes it possible to “talk” on equal terms with American aircraft of the 5 generation, may well be handed over to the PRC for our common security, because we did not transfer to China the secret technologies for the manufacture of nitride-gallium PPM Radar Н036 "Belka", which are installed on the T-50. All technology transfer is carried out in a strict framework consistent with external threats and own interests.
Many news agencies claim that F-22 is not widely used because of its high cost. As you know, another Fifth grader F-35 is much more widely used. But accurate and intelligible information about the difference between the two machines do not seek to express.
Despite the fact that both promising fighters belong to the 5 generation, their functionality, technical characteristics and purpose, as well as the cost, are completely different. The F-35A can be considered a standard, inconspicuous front-line fighter-bomber for every day, which will carry out various attack missions in theater of operations XXI, as well as conduct long-range air combat with the overwhelming majority of enemy fighters of the 4 + / ++ generation. This fighter was not designed for super-maneuverable air combat, and even F-16C and F-15E Strike Eagle were inferior in exercises. Low maximum speed will not allow high-speed interception of targets in pursuit, and the less powerful AN / APG-81 radar (fighter target range is about 165 km) does not give any advantages even to a machine such as Su-30CM. F-35A also has X-NUMX-3 radar visibility more than Raptor’s, which leaves even the 5-generation fighter with a radar, for example, Su-4MKK, an opportunity to win.
F-35A / B “fifth graders”, bought up by Asia and Europe as “hot cakes”, will soon be thrown into various smoldering military conflicts in Front and Southeast Asia, where they will become very formidable air combat units against the outdated Iranian air fleet and North Korea. For several years now, Israel has been developing tactics for using the F-35I acquired today against Iranian MiG-29А and F-14A fighters, as well as to overcome Iran’s air defense. But if Israeli Lightning has no problems with outdated Iranian tactical aviation, actively updating air defense systems based on C-300PMU-2 and Bavar-373 will put the F-35I pilots in a terrible position and their prospects for a lightning strike on nuclear facilities. Iranian power engineers will disappear. This will be even clearer after the delivery of new generation 4 ++ fighter jets to the Iranian Air Force, which can be the Russian MiG-35, Su-30CM or Chinese J-11A / B.
In the Far East theater, the 42 Japanese and 40 South Korean F-35A will have much greater prospects, in particular, against the DPRK armed forces. North Korea, despite the large number of different classes of low-level ballistic missiles (OTBR) and medium-range missiles in the armament of the ground forces, have a primitive air defense that is unable to cope with a massive rocket-air strike even a pair of South Korean F-15K squadrons (F-15E option for the RAF ). But there is a small nuance: if there is a serious aggravation of the confrontation over the island archipelagoes Diaoyuda and Spratly, with the active fate of the American fleet, Beijing can transfer to Pyongyang more or less advanced anti-aircraft missile systems and fighters, and then the anti-Chinese / anti-Korean coalition, even with uchitel 80 F-35A, will mature a good problem.
As for another "fifth-grader" - F-22A "Raptor", here the situation is many times more interesting and serious. The cost of one F-22A today varies between 150 - 200 million dollars, which is approximately 2 times more expensive than the F-35A. If the JSF program, which got its start thanks to the "cooperation" of Lockheed Martin, with the OKB Design Bureau. Yakovlev, was intended to "capture" the global arms market, cost more than 1300 billion dollars, the YF-22 project was originally intended solely for long-term renewal of the US Air Force by a fighter capable of maintaining air supremacy for at least 20-25 years. That he became.
Over the 15 years of testing (up to 2005 of the year) and 11 years of service (until today) in the US Air Force, Raptor met all expectations of flight crews and developers regarding the most maneuverable, speedy and unobtrusive serial 5 fighter of the generation. In terms of combat qualities, the F-22A is several times superior to the grief- "Lightning". If we take as an example the use of "Raptors" in the Syrian theater, then you can only see the reconnaissance and deterrent functions of these machines. They fly, most likely, with Luneberg lenses installed to hide the true effective scattering surface from observation radars 91H6E of the Russian C-400 SAMs and Su-30CM fighters deployed at Hmeimim airbase. Only 10-15% potential of F-22A is used here. When an escalation of a serious conflict occurs, where Raptors will have to prove themselves in all 100%, this will be a completely different picture.
To conduct long-range air combat with these fighters will be an order of magnitude more difficult than with the F-35A. EPR in 0,05 - 0,07 м2 will not allow detecting it at a distance of more than 120 - 150 km of any of the known radars installed on enemy aircraft. In most episodes of air battles with the F-22A, we will see a picture when pilots of opposing fighters can understand that they were attacked by a stealth fighter only after an alarm signal was triggered by an irradiation warning station warning of the seizure of an AIM-120D rocket homing head. And only such masterpieces as the Su-35С can detect it thanks to more advanced onboard means of electronic and electronic intelligence.
Snow-covered F-22A at the Elmendorf-Richardson airbase (Alaska). All Raptors, based on this airbase, belong to the 11 Air Force Air Force of the USA and the NORAD air defense fighter aircraft. For flight to Japanese airfields for solving combat missions in the Far East, the F-22A will require no more than 5 hours of flight over the Pacific Ocean with one air refueling
At the moment, there have not been such critical situations where F-22A might be needed, but in the future they will certainly arise. The use of “Raptors” will mainly be used as aviation to achieve air superiority in areas with thick and powerful enemy air defenses, i.e. destruction of enemy aircraft over its own territories, and only the strongest - Russia, China and Iran - can prevent this domination. They will be included in the spectrum of their tasks and pinpoint the suppression of the enemy’s ground infrastructure, including air defense systems, with the help of a compact BTO rocket-bomb, which is based on the GBU-39 SDB (Small Diameter Bomb) guided bomb. In the weapons bays, the F-22A can deliver 8-like bombs to the ground target.
The greatest threat F-22A, equipped with SDB, will be for the air defense missile systems. Possessing a small radar and moderate infrared visibility, they will be able to quietly approach self-propelled air defense systems with weaker radar detection and targeting all over 25 - 30 km, and then reset several GBU-39. It is also not entirely easy to intercept these bombs, since their ESR does not exceed 0,015 m 2. Such complexes as Osa-AKM or Strela-10 will not be able to intercept these bombs, and only Top-M1 / 2, Armor-C1 or, in extreme cases, Tungusska-M1 will be able to shoot down such objects.
In wartime, Raptors can operate both at supersonic cruising speeds up to 1900 km / h and afterburning speeds up to 2450 km / h, which gives important advantages over most other Western fighters. And, of course, the important role is played by the super-maneuverable qualities of the F-22A, realized by the excellent bearing characteristics of the wing and the vertical OBT, putting it almost on the same level with the Su-30CM and Su-35С in the BVB.
Russian perspective aviation complex T-50, in the opinion of many Russian and western specialists, surpasses American competitors F-35A and F-22A in a number of technical parameters. But US projects were implemented much earlier. T-50 are going to put into service only next year. In view of this, numerous bloggers and specialists in the field of military aviation are wondering whether our T-50 PAK FA will lose its solid niche in the Asian arms market, and also reflect on possible markets for this unique machine in the third decade of the 21st century. .
Speaking about the sales markets for the domestic promising T-50 PAK FA aviation complex of the front aviation, it is worth remembering that the purpose of this fighter coincides exactly with the purpose of the American F-22A "Raptor". T-50 in the most advanced versions will only be in service with the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, and most likely will not receive numerous export modifications, as is observed with the F-35A, F-15C / E or Su-30. The only mass-produced version of the T-50 for a foreign customer will be a simplified version, designed in conjunction with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, FGFA. Single and double cars of the program will enter service with the Indian Air Force by about 2025 year. There is a small share of the likelihood that in the future such an FGFA version can be supplied for the Iranian Air Force, but today it is minimal.
A number of experts expressed the view that there might be demand for T-50 in Turkey (NATO member) and Saudi Arabia (longtime US ally), which means they are considering the possibility of close military-technical cooperation between Russia and these countries.
To put it mildly, this information does not look just crazy, but I apologize for the expression, marasmic. And in order to assess the extent of thoughtlessness of such data, it is necessary to imagine the conclusion of a contract between the Ministry of Defense of Belarus (member of the CSTO and the Union State) and Lockheed Martin for the purchase of a batch of 24 F-22A or F-35A.
As for the grounds for such bold predictions, they do not exist at all. Even taking into account such facts as the normalization of political and economic relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey, or military-technical cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which at one time bought us BMP-3, and can sign a contract for the purchase of Zelenodolsk patrol ships of the ocean zone Ave 22160, none of the likely few modifications of the T-50 PAK FA can be adopted by the main American ally in Front Asia. As for the mention in the report of OAO Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky "possible sale to the Saudis of distant patrol ships (PC) of 22160 Ave." Vasily Bykov ", this is also" forks on the water written. "
But even if such a contract gets real progress, then we at Rosoboronexport also have not stupid people on the ground: the Saudi Arabian Navy will receive an export modification of a patrol ship with a completely different radar for the naval air defense system “Shtil-1” . Recently, on the Russian Internet one could see several versions of the 22160 pr designs, some of which are intended for the Russian Navy, others for marketing on the external armament market. Our fleet will receive a promising multifunctional 4-sided MRLS for managing the “Shtil-1” complex based on 4's AFAR integrated into the antenna post on the ship's main superstructure, while the “Arabian” version will receive the simplest one-channel version of the “Shtil-1” KZRK with one radar illumination and guidance 3Р90 "Nut" on the front of the roof of the superstructure.
The top graphic image shows a subtle patrol ship of the 22160 project in the version for the Russian Navy: a promising antenna post of the MRLS for the Shtil-1 complex with the X-shaped arrangement of the AFAR can be seen. On the bottom image is the export version of the 22160 pr. With one 3Р90 “Nut” radar illuminator for the “Shtil-1” KZRK (on the roof of the control room)
As for the sale of promising T-50 fighters to the Turkish Air Force, this situation is also canceled, and even if the latter leaves the North Atlantic Alliance. From the long experience of Russian-Turkish relations, we can distinguish many periods of military confrontation, cooling cooperation, as well as “aggressive play” on the side of the States, when in 1961-year, Izmir launched the launch positions of PGM-19 “Jupiter” medium-range missiles. And all this happened in the period of active financial assistance and the provision of billions in loans from the Soviet Union. Relations have now returned to normal, but, as before, Turkey continues to sponsor the Mejlis units of the Crimean Tatar militants and other extremists who are preparing a “bridgehead” for aggressive actions by the Ukrainian army. And we are still talking about NATO AWACS airplanes of the AWACS E-3C / G system (based on Turkish air bases), who regularly monitor the airspace over the Crimea and the Kuban. What kind of supplies of the 5 generation fighter for this country's Air Force?
Even if you remove the military and political issues, and rely purely on the technical information of the Western and Turkish media, we can say that they are now focusing on purchasing the F-35A, as well as promoting their own project of the XFUM-5 TFX-100 lightweight multi-purpose fighter , to the design of which they have already managed to attract the British company BAE Systems. The T-200 PAK FA will remain the foremost 50 generation fighter, designed mainly for the Russian Aerospace Forces with a small and tightly controlled sales market in Asia, mainly covering India.
Information sources:
http://bastion-karpenko.narod.ru/F-22.html
http://bastion-karpenko.ru/f-35-lightning-ii/
http://www.paralay.com/pakfa/pakfa.html
Information