Air-to-air madhouse
So, on the other side they are tearing, as I understand it, the banjo, because the event that took place is regarded as a complete victory and now the Russians and Chinese will tremble, because...
What exactly is “for”? I’ll quote one American resource known to us (I won’t point the finger at Popular Mechanic), because
"Naval fleet did the unthinkable: turned missiles warships in the air weapon! Fighters now bring unprecedented firepower to the skies."
.So, someone was able to install ship-based missiles on fighters. Defense.
What is so “unthinkable” here? So I understand that at one time we took a ballistic missile and made it into an aeroballistic one.
Moreover, all this did not require 20 years of work or 300 million dollars. The rocket was taken ready-made, the carrier was invented on the fly, and most suitable for playing the role of the first stage of the MiG-31.
The Iskander became the Kinzhal and you can say whatever you want about the shortcomings of this complex, but so far neither the Patriot, nor IRIS-T, nor NASAMS have been able to intercept the Kinzhal.
A week-long search for the truth did not lead to anything. Not a single photograph that even closely resembles something similar to “Dagger” could be found in Ukrainian and American sources. And what we managed to discover is that in order to believe that this is “Dagger”, you have to be Biden.
So actually we've already done this.
What are the Americans reporting?
And their advantage lies in the fact that the SM-6 missile is currently being used on F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters.
“The SM-6 was originally developed as a ship-based air defense missile, and now it is the longest-range air-to-air missile in the world.
Earlier this month aviation The world was shocked by the revelation that the SM-6 anti-aircraft missile, previously used to arm warships, had been used to arm F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters. As a result, the world's longest-range air-to-air missile suddenly appeared, significantly superior to its Russian and Chinese counterparts. The missile's success will likely lead to other pairs that will take advantage of America's vast arsenal of high-tech weapons."
Earlier this month aviation The world was shocked by the revelation that the SM-6 anti-aircraft missile, previously used to arm warships, had been used to arm F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters. As a result, the world's longest-range air-to-air missile suddenly appeared, significantly superior to its Russian and Chinese counterparts. The missile's success will likely lead to other pairs that will take advantage of America's vast arsenal of high-tech weapons."
Well, let me doubt it.
In June 2024, a qualified photographer took photographs of a Navy F/A-18F strike fighter carrying an SM-6 air defense missile. The SM-6, designed for Navy warships, has a range of about 450 km. This is three times longer than the publicly stated range of AMRAAM, the US military's current long-range missile. China's longest-range air-to-air missile, the PL-15 (Thunderbolt-15), has a range of about 300 km.
Just a month later, on the eve of the multinational Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in Hawaii, a seemingly different photographer captured a Super Hornet at Joint Base Hickam-Pearl Harbor armed with two missiles the Navy now calls the XAIM-147B — the Air-Launched SM-6. In an email to FlightGlobal, the service confirmed that the XAIM-174B had been “operationally deployed” to the fleet, meaning it was combat-ready.
“Adapting the XAIM-147B to fighter aircraft has a number of advantages. First, the missile was already designed and ready to fly, and the Navy also already had a concept of operation, or how they would use the missile in combat. Finally, there was already a production line set up to create what was then called the SM-6, cutting the time it took to get missiles to the fleet by months or even years.
This leap in capability was only possible because the US military already had a missile designed for other platforms that could be adapted for fighter jets. The huge arsenal of weapons of the American military-industrial complex means that this kind of adaptive innovation will almost certainly happen again."
This leap in capability was only possible because the US military already had a missile designed for other platforms that could be adapted for fighter jets. The huge arsenal of weapons of the American military-industrial complex means that this kind of adaptive innovation will almost certainly happen again."
Literally, “The thunder of victory, ring out!” In general, we have gone through this more than once, but still, gritting our teeth, we continue to study what is written on the other side.
And there, quite reasonably, they say that recently US engineers have achieved extraordinary success in hammering and filing various types of weapons. First of all, for Ukraine.
Let's start from there, so to speak. From there - this is from the 80s of the last century, when the US came up with the HARM rocket, which was very good for that time.
THREE
“American HARM anti-radar missiles, developed during the Cold War to track Soviet air defense radars, have been adapted to the former Soviet Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters flown by the Ukrainian Air Force. Although they were once considered completely incompatible, someone somehow fit the combination of Soviet and American avionics systems like a glove."
Well, yes, an American engineering genius, no less. In general, the HARM, which was transferred to Ukraine, was equipped with a passive radar seeker, that is, these missiles were used “stupidly”: when a warning about radar exposure was triggered in the cockpit of the Su-27 or MiG-29, the Ukrainian pilot launched the HARM, counting on the fact that the seeker itself he'll figure it out there.
Here is a photo of the cockpit of the Ukrainian MiG-29 at the time of HARM launch. Who sees additional blocks or displays? And I don't see. There is only a smartphone that plays the role of a GPS navigator. That's all. Another question is that the HARM seeker is quite accurate and allows the missile to aim itself.
Here we can recall Desert Storm, when on the first day 125 fired HARMs destroyed 56 Iraqi radars.
But we can remember that in that operation, three of our Patriot air defense systems, one B-3 bomber, the Saudi boat Abu Obaidah and the American frigate USS Nicholas were given away.
But in general, the AGM-88 HARM is the right missile.
Another example is the Franken-ZRK. But here I already want to ask: “What does this have to do with you?” In general, it was Czech and Polish engineers who successfully combined American missiles with Ukrainian Buk air defense systems. The upgraded Buks, nicknamed "Franken SAMs", are armed with Sea Sparrow missiles, which were intended to protect American warships from air attacks, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Not a bad move, considering the complete exhaustion of ammunition for Soviet air defense systems.
In general, not the most successful examples, in my opinion. But we will return to XAIM-147B, because here not everything is smooth and clear.
XAIM-147B
So, the base model is SM-6, or if completely, then RIM-174 SM-6 ERAM. In fact, it is a constructor made from quite successful solutions of past years. The booster booster from the CM-3 anti-missile missile, the active radar seeker from the AIM-120 AMRAAM, and so on.
It turned out well with the seeker: the missile became practically independent of the ship’s guidance radars, that is, it was practically “fired and forgotten.” But here again there is a nuance: yes, during the cruising phase the rocket is controlled by an inertial autopilot, but with the ability to correct the course by commands from the carrier ship according to its radar data. This is justified, since “seeing” at 400 km is, excuse me, not for the seeker of a rocket, even the most difficult one. But the target, especially one that detects the launch, will not stand and wait for the missile to arrive.
We're talking about airplanes for now. Behind Drones and rockets are a separate and special conversation.
That is, in order to successfully get within range of activating its seeker, the SM-6 must fly some distance using the inertial autopilot. If we are talking about distances over 300 km, this is difficult, especially if the target not only flies at a decent speed, but also actively maneuvers.
Simply launching a missile in the desired direction and then letting it find its target using an active radar homing head (ARHH) may not be the most reliable way. Therefore, for now it is impossible to do without a radar that will monitor the flight of the rocket throughout its entire path at a distance of 300-350 kilometers.
SM-6 flies at a speed of about 4000 km/h. That is, it will fly 300 km in about 5 minutes. During this time, an airplane flying at a speed of 1 km/h will fly 000-80 km. That is, the target can easily leave the zone of confident activation of the ARGSN. That is, an assistant is needed.
Let's go through the radar now
Let's take the classic AN/SPY-1, which is installed on those ships that can launch SIM-6. On the Ticonderogas and Arleigh Berks.
The radar, of course, is no longer a masterpiece, but together with the Aegis system it represents something already classic in this regard - detection and guidance.
The AN/SPY-1 has a range of only 320 km. But for very low-flying targets such as anti-ship missiles - 80 km. But we are talking about a range of 450 km... The situation turns out to be such that, roughly speaking, a missile can fly 300 km according to radar instructions, and then... 150 km according to the seeker? It’s doubtful, but in our context everything is just fine. Let it fly.
It’s clear that at a distance of up to 300 km, SIM-6 can make life difficult for anyone, but beyond that...
In general, SIM-6 doesn’t have very luxurious performance anyway. Numbers are a very good thing, but numbers are numbers, and real indicators... are far from perfect.
Let's not go far, the year is 2021, there were a lot of SIM-6 tests.
May 27, 2021. A salvo of two SIM-6s against a non-maneuvering ballistic target. There was no interception.
May 29, 2021. A salvo of two SM-6 Dual II missiles at a target in the form of a medium-range ballistic missile. Unsuccessful.
July 24, 2021. A salvo of four SIM-6s at two ballistic targets. One target hit.
Overall the results are so-so. Yes, against ballistic targets, the speed of which is obviously higher than that of any other targets. But nonetheless. Nothing helped, and they are still working on the rocket, at least on its second iteration.
In addition, a very important point: before a missile can be assigned a target, it must somehow be detected. And here a certain misunderstanding arises: the rocket flies 450 km, but the ship’s radar can see the target 300 km away. What is the point of 150 km difference?
To do this, let's look at the F/A-18 radar which is the “Super Hornet”.
There is AN/APG-73 (on old versions) or AN/APG-79 (on new E/F). The range of the first is 110 km, the range of the second is 150 km. And again the question: is there any point in having a missile range of 450 km if the aircraft’s radar operates at a three times shorter range?
If the aircraft’s radar “sees” at 150 km, then there is the AIM-120C-7 missile with a range of 120 km. Or AIM-120D with a range of 180 km. Everything is very logical. The radar-rocket sparkle looks efficient and without overkill.
Well, the last
The weight of one SM-6 is “only” 1500 kg. Two rockets will weigh 3 kg, understandable without a calculator. In total, the F/A-000 C/F carries 18 kg of weapons.
That is, two missiles will take on 2/3 of the aircraft’s combat load. It is clear that there is only one aircraft in a flight with these ultra-long-range missiles, because someone has to do something other than carry strange missiles.
In general, an airplane that “sees” at 150 km, carrying missiles that fly at 450 km, looks very peculiar.
About the seeker of the SIM-6 missile. She is so independent, she can do without outside help, but the question is: how much does she “see” the goal? Since the seeker is inherited from the AIM-120 AMRAAM, and there is data on this missile, the AIM-120 AMRAAM seeker is capable of detecting a target with an ESR of about 3 m² at ranges of about 16-18 km.
This is all, we can end it.
The insane joy of the Americans that they have built the farthest-flying rocket that “has no analogues in the world” is understandable. Everyone (it is clear that Russia and China) should be inspired and afraid.
In fact, there is a difference between the two “collective farms”, and it is not in favor of the Americans in terms of logic.
The Russians suspended an aeroballistic missile under the world's fastest aircraft, which works against ground-based static targets. “Dagger” also uses a mixed guidance system: inertial in the initial and middle phases of the flight and optical/infrared in the final phase of the flight, which achieves a high accuracy of 5-7 m. It is possible to use GLONASS in addition to the inertial guidance system.
But it must be emphasized: the missile flies along predetermined coordinates of a static target.
Here the Americans have an air-to-air missile, converted from a ship-to-air missile, flying very far (450 km) somewhere. 430 km. And then the missile’s radar will come into action, trying to find something and hit it.
Here is some additional information to consider: the diameter of the AN/APG-79 radar is 127 cm. More precisely, the width is still not a circle. And the diameter of the SIM-6 rocket is only 53 cm. How much smaller the fact that the radar will play the role in the rocket can be imagined using a calculator.
In general, when there is nothing to be happy about, and such news it will be very even. How effective will it be to fire such a missile where it finds the target... we'll see. I would like to see efficiency at the level of 1991, when American missiles hit everything they could aim at. It will be exciting.
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