The most ineffective weapons
Increased cast range aviation ammunition, coupled with the development of cruise missiles and methods of increasing the survival rate for combat aircraft, led to a sharp weakening of air defense systems.
Over the past 35 years, all the results of combat use of anti-aircraft missile systems have demonstrated the extremely low effectiveness of this type of weapon (on the verge of uselessness). In 100% of cases, the anti-aircraft gunners not only failed to protect the airspace, but could not even offer significant resistance to aviation. Despite the fact that we are talking about very complex and expensive systems with the promised high capabilities, where the cost of one antenna post is comparable to the cost of a fighter link.
And what is the result?
Bombers and air attack weapons (START) “rolled” around the positions of the air defense system with a hot-rolled ice rink, destroying, with impunity, objects protected, as it seemed, by the most powerful and modern air defense system.
In response, the representatives of the ground group and the command of the Air Defense Command routinely shrugged their shoulders, referring to the hindrances, hilly terrain and curvature of the earth. Radars do not see a target beyond the horizon - this is an unplanned mode. However, the problem is that this “mode” is calculated when planning strikes with the use of fourth-generation cruise missiles and multi-purpose fighters, which are capable of flying at ultra-low altitudes, attacking with high-precision weaponsfor which they do not even need to fly directly over the target. Under such conditions, triumphant reports about the “unique properties” of anti-aircraft systems, which, by their very presence, “induce fear” and “force the aggressors to abandon the attack,” are nothing but confirmed chatter.
The question is not even in “unique opportunities”, but in the justification of investing in the development of such expensive weapons guaranteed destroyed in the first minutes of the war.
Examples do not have to look long
Operation Medvedka-19, 1982 year
The number of 19 - the number of divisions of the air defense system in East Lebanon.
The 15 divisions of the Kvadrat mobile SAM systems, two divisions of the C-75 and C-125 stationary SAM systems, supplemented by 50 “Shilok”, 17 anti-aircraft artillery batteries and 47 branches of the “Strela-2” MANPADS. The highest density of anti-aircraft weapons ever encountered in military conflicts.
Despite the threefold mutual cover, the “invincible” air defense group ceased to exist on the first day of the war, without noticeable losses for enemy aircraft.
Operation “Canyon Eldorado”, 1986 year
The airspace above Tripoli was covered by French-made 60 airplanes of the Krotal air defense missile system, seven C-75 battalions (42 launchers), twelve C-125 complexes designed to combat low-flying targets (48 PU), three battalions of mobile Square-to-Air missiles ( these are also 48 PU), 16 mobile OSR “Osa”, apart from the Vega C-200 long-range anti-aircraft systems deployed in the country (24 launchers).
The strike group of 40 aircraft broke through to all the designated targets, having lost only one bomber from the fire of the anti-aircraft gunners (at least no other debris and evidence of large losses over the past 30 years were found).
Accuracy of nighttime shots was low. But surprisingly different. Armada of 40 aircraft flew all night in the sky over the capital, rousing residents with the explosions and roar of aircraft turbines. Brazenly and with impunity, as if the Libyans had no air defense at all.
Operation Desert Storm, 1991 Year
Briefly about the main thing - the aviation of the multinational forces bombed whom it wanted, when it wanted and how much it wanted, despite the presence of Iraq of the full range of Soviet-made air defense systems, supplemented by French radar and the Roland air defense system. In quantities that most of the most developed countries of the world could envy. According to the American command, the Iraqi air defense system was notable for its high organization and complex radar detection system covering the most important cities and objects in the country.
Naturally, the very first night it was all killed by zero.
In the days that followed, the Allied aviation worked in the sky for what it wanted. The remnants of the Iraqi air defense - just what they could. Could they a little. In just six weeks of “supersonic war”, during episodic incidents, 46 combat aircraft were shot down, most of which were not the victims of the formidable “Squares”, but large-caliber machine guns and MANPADS.
The USSR Ministry of Defense cited other numbers - 68 casualties (including those shot down in aerial combat).
In any case, this gives less than one thousandth of a percent of 144 000 MNF aviation sorties. Suspiciously weak result for the air defense of the whole country, which militarily was one of the five strongest states in the world.
Operation Allied Force, bombing of Serbia, 1999 year
The FRN was armed with 32 of the ZRK division (20 of the obsolete C-125 and 12 of quite modern “Cube-M”), as well as around 100 mobile systems “Strela-1” and “Strela-10”, MANPADS and the anti-aircraft artillery systems.
Of course, all this was not useful to the Serbs.
The only loud incident happened on the third day of the war: the invisible F-117 collapsed near Belgrade. The event greatly cheered the employees of the air defense forces around the world. However, it did not affect the course of the operation and the results of the conflict. The Yankees and their minions bombed everything they wanted.
According to the NATO command, their aircraft bombed 10 484.
Why did the Serbs manage to shoot down the "stealth", but failed to shoot down the rest of the "simpler" and numerous targets such as "F-15 & F-16"? The answer about stealth is as simple as the question: random success.
The second and last confirmed trophy of the Serbian air defense was the F-16 "40 unit", which departed from Aviano airbase. The tails of both cars are on display at the Belgrade Aviation Museum.
No further debris was found. Twisted rocket "Tomahawk" and a couple of light UAVs. That's the whole result for the thirty-two divisions of the air defense system.
The complexes were not the newest? Well so what! NATO aircraft also did not consist of some of the latest "stealth". Among the opponents there was a mass of “old men”, the peers of the “Kub” air defense system.
For example, the Dutch flew the F-16A (1 aerial victory), the earliest modification of the Falcon with a lot of flaws. Downed F-16 "Block 40" was also considered by that time outdated machine. And the Italian Air Force attracted to the operation even such “dinosaurs” as the F-104 “Starfighter”.
* * *
With the end of the bombing of Serbia in stories Air defense came a long 15-year break. All offensive campaigns started “zero” were conducted in the absence of opposition from the ground. During this time, many legends were written, as valiant anti-aircraft gunners "threw" dozens of planes on Iraq and Yugoslavia, the main of which was the story about the downed "stealth".
And now - welcome to the new era. The epoch of fantastic aviation complexes, the wise “Tactical Tomahawk” missiles, which plan dozens of kilometers of guided bombs and new methods of air warfare.
In response, the new-generation air defense systems were threateningly targeting from the surface. With high automation and new, advanced features. Impenetrable “armor” and unparalleled C-400, capable of shooting down everyone at once, at distances of hundreds of kilometers.
The first round ended unexpectedly with the victory of air defense weapons. The domestic anti-aircraft complex “C-1 Shell”, delivered to Syria, was shot down by the Turkish reconnaissance “Phantom”. Sent the old man to the scrap.
Further confrontation of air defense and aviation did not cause any optimism. Not a month goes by without news about the next strike of the Western coalition air forces and Israel on the Syrian territory. Fly and bomb what they want. Despite the presence of “impenetrable armor” and C-400, whose index hints at the possibility of controlling space over half of the Middle East.
Unpunished air strikes cause ridicule among countries where their own successes are zero; it remains only to scrape the others. But the domestic approach is also good: for a good ten years, the media painted daily the outstanding properties of “Armor” and “Triumph”. The military showed them in parades, promising to shoot down everything that comes close to 400 (now 500) kilometers to the air defense system positions.
With the same success, you can assure colleagues that you own telepathy, knowing that as soon as possible the facts will show the opposite and will make you laugh.
“Hour X” was a missile attack on the air base Shairat. In an effort to protect shoulder straps and reputation, justified in different ways. Someone referred to the absence of an order. Others honestly wrote about the lack of technical ability to intercept. In that situation, the presence or absence of an order did not matter.
Our C-400 air defense system, which is deployed in Syria, at Hamim’s airbase, could not technically be able to bring down the American Tomahawks. Prior to the Syrian air base Shairat, which was attacked by the Americans, from Hamimim about 100 km. However, for air defense systems there is a restrictive concept of a radio horizon.
Yes, the maximum range of the C-400 is 400 km. But you have to understand: this is the reach of air targets that operate at medium and high altitudes. Cruise missiles that operate at altitudes of 30 − 50 meters are not visible from such a distance simply because the Earth’s “curve” is spherical. In short, the American "Tomahawks" were outside the radio horizon C-400. (Colonel of the reserve, member of the Expert Council of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky.)
Yes, the maximum range of the C-400 is 400 km. But you have to understand: this is the reach of air targets that operate at medium and high altitudes. Cruise missiles that operate at altitudes of 30 − 50 meters are not visible from such a distance simply because the Earth’s “curve” is spherical. In short, the American "Tomahawks" were outside the radio horizon C-400. (Colonel of the reserve, member of the Expert Council of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky.)
If the application is subjected to logical analysis, it turns out that any, the most advanced air defense system is powerless against low-flying aircraft and missiles.
Modern aircraft for striking do not even need to fly near the target. This makes the reflection of an attack by means of ground defense almost impossible.
On the aviation side, physics and the laws of nature.
40 years ago
The last indisputable air defense triumph was the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Well, as if in triumph, they still blew it. But nonetheless. The essence is different.
The most up-to-date anti-aircraft complexes with calculations completed by Soviet “advisers and military experts” caused simply offensive losses to the “invincible” Hel Haavir (Israeli Air Force).
100-150 destroyed aircraft and helicopters (according to the Syrian side - more than 200), including shot down in aerial combat and lost for inevitable technical reasons. A quarter of the Israeli military fleet - in the flow.
The reason is a low percentage of high-precision weapons. Armed with “cast iron”, the Israeli “Mirage” and “Phantoms” were forced to “shove in the forehead” on anti-aircraft missiles, for which they paid.
What does this example have to do with our time? Yes, no. With the same success, you can refer to the actions of air defense in Vietnam.
The differences between the wars of the middle and the end of the XX century were described at the very beginning:
The increase in the range of use of aircraft ammunition in conjunction with the development of cruise missiles and methods of improving survival for combat aircraft led to a sharp weakening of air defense weapons.
Why does aviation win?
The highest mobility among all existing weapons systems. Initiative. The ability to quickly group forces and choose the time, place and unexpected direction to attack. Supersonic breakthroughs at low altitudes.
A wide range of “traps”, “surprises” and special means, allowing to “lead by the nose” the best anti-aircraft complexes.
For example, MALD, simulators of air targets, massively launched into the air defense zone of action. For ground-based radars, they are practically indistinguishable from fighters and, moreover, cruise missiles, imitating simple maneuvers and radio communications crews. They fly hundreds of kilometers.
The task of these "dummies" - to disperse and divert the attention of anti-aircraft calculations from these goals. To force to activate the radar, on which the “blocking” the PI.
What is PI? These are anti-radar missiles, induced by radar radiation.
At the moment, strongly evolved, turning into “heavenly mines”. Airplanes do not even need to be constantly in dangerous proximity to the enemy's air defense systems - it is enough to “hang out” about a dozen such surprises in the sky.
ALARM (Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile). This is not a primitive “Shrike” from the time of the Arab-Israeli war with a single working frequency and field of view, like a mole.
Rockets soar upward and slowly descend from the stratosphere by parachute (tens of minutes). As soon as the guidance head fixes the radar on, the parachute is shot off, the ALARM again turns into a supersonic rocket, falling by a meteorite at the position of the air defense missile system.
Accuracy is not perfect, but a couple of volleys with such “toys” are the guaranteed end of any air defense.
Not counting the less complex and artsy PRR AGM-88 HARM, produced in the direction of working radar. Suspecting something was wrong and having urgently turned off the radar, the calculation is still doomed - the HARM need only see the target once. Having lost the guiding signal, the modern PI is flying in the direction from which the signal was last recorded.
This does not negate the likelihood that a blunt PI, instead of a radar, attacks the microwave. Just consumable ammunition. Do not hit one, hit the second. Pilots risk nothing - they are a hundred kilometers below the radio horizon of ground-based radars.
Towed traps, aerial anti-radar mines and conventional PRRs, electronic warfare equipment, cruise missiles, Drones-kamikaze, electronic reconnaissance aircraft capable of finding the direction of the radar from distances of hundreds of kilometers (from the airspace of a neighboring country).
In such circumstances, the situation with air defense reminds the story of the impassable Maginot Line, which could not stand the clash with the realities of the new war.
In the armies of the western type, air defense systems receive an order of magnitude less attention, the same “Patriots” are never considered as the main means of protecting the airspace. They are on the second (if not the third) roles, after the fighters. Aviation can only fight aviation (of course, comparable in quantity and quality of technology and l / s).
Western air defense systems, Aegis, THAAD and Iron Dome are increasingly turning into missile defense systems. For firing at radio-contrast targets at high altitudes, when the calculations still have time to detect and intercept the target.
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