Once upon a time at a Ukrainian airbase: a complex fire raid
Continued, beginning in the material Once upon a time at a Ukrainian airbase: a moment before the strike.
Andrews
Approximately fifty kilometers from the target, the warheads of the attacking missiles separated from the booster engines, and the number of targets on the screens of the enemy’s anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) control centers doubled, as a result of which the number of potential targets exceeded the SAM’s ability to track them. However, the trajectory of the jettisoned sections of the booster engines soon began to differ from the trajectories of the warheads, so the air defense system equipment quickly eliminated them.
The group of one hundred twenty-eight attack missiles included a defense breakthrough subgroup, a defeat subgroup, a mop-up subgroup, an objective control subgroup and an experimental subgroup anti-aircraft attack (AA)Accordingly, the head of each of the attacking missiles carried a payload relevant to the task being solved.
The defense breakthrough subgroup included twelve warheads with decoys, two warheads with electronic warfare (EW) and eight warheads representing anti-radar missiles (ARM).
The destruction subgroup included thirty-six warheads with high-precision submunitions with a cluster warhead, eighteen warheads with high-precision submunitions with a monobloc warhead, twenty high-precision warheads with a monobloc warhead of increased power and two high-precision warheads of the penetrating type, designed to destroy buried objects.
The clearance subgroup included twelve warheads with incendiary submunitions and twelve warheads with small anti-personnel mines.
And finally, the objective control subgroup included two warheads containing two units of observation equipment each, and the experimental air defense subgroup included four warheads designed to work against air targets.
The composition of the group was not constant and was optimized based on the type of target being attacked and the tasks being solved.
Defense breakthrough
The defense breakthrough subgroup was the first to get into action - almost immediately after separating from the booster engines, the warheads of the first twelve launched missiles opened and released thirty-six small-sized decoys each, so there were already over five hundred possible targets on the enemy’s radars.
The small-sized decoy target was a feathered projectile of optimal aerodynamic shape with a Luneberg lens installed in the front part, providing a significant increase in the effective dispersion surface (RCS) in the radar wavelength range, so that for enemy radar stations they looked like full-size missiles.
In addition, two more warheads, equipped with powerful electronic warfare stations with a limited operating time, released small braking parachutes, and after reducing speed, the main parachutes were released and the antennas deployed. Immediately after the activation of the electronic warfare stations, the effectiveness of the enemy air defense systems decreased significantly - problems arose with determining the range to targets, and periodically the acquisition of one of the targets was disrupted.
The next eight head parts - PRR, immediately after separating the booster engines, dropped the head fairings covering the air intakes, launched their ramjet engines (ramjet engines) and quickly accelerated to a speed of 5 Mach (Mach - the speed of sound).
Their passive homing heads (GOS) captured four of the most powerful sources of radar radiation - radars from the Patriot air defense system and the NASAMS air defense system. The on-board equipment carried out target distribution based on the calculation of two PRRs per source of radar radiation, and the PRRs rushed to their targets.
Almost all anti-aircraft guided missiles launched by the Patriot air defense system were aimed at small-sized decoy targets that had rushed forward. In most cases, it was not even possible to hit them - the low-power combat units of the missile defense system simply could not cause serious damage to what were essentially “metal blanks”, and for hitting using the hit-to-kill method, the false targets were too small, and there were too many of them - much more the total number of missiles at the airbase.
One anti-aircraft missile launched by the Patriot air defense system managed to hit an electronic warfare station descending by parachute.
When eight missile launchers with ramjet engines took the lead, two of them were shot down - one with the help of the Patriot air defense system, the second with the help of the NASAMS air defense system. The remaining PRRs managed to hit three of the four radars - one radar from the NASAMS air defense system survived.
While the enemy missile defense systems were fighting the breakthrough group, the lead units of the defeat subgroup were being uncovered.
Defeat
Thirty-six warheads each carried six high-precision submunitions with a cluster warhead, another eighteen warheads each carried six high-precision submunitions with a monobloc warhead - a total of three hundred and twenty-four ammunition. Their guidance was carried out using an inertial navigation system (INS), supplemented by guidance based on data from the global navigation satellite system (GLONASS).
In terms of their destructive power, these submunitions were approximately equivalent to 152 mm artillery shells. Their plan shape was close to triangular, which made it possible to make maximum use of the internal space of the warheads, as well as reduce the EPR of submunitions.
The fact is that at a distance of three hundred kilometers, the dispersion for unguided projectiles would be too great even for hitting area targets, especially since the targets at the air base were unevenly distributed and constantly moving, so the use of precision-guided ammunition was an inevitable and justified decision.
Data on the latest target locations were entered almost before launch. Total for open price aviation equipment - airplanes and helicopters, two hundred and sixteen cluster submunitions arrived - two or three submunitions for each target.
At one point, fourteen F-16 fighters were destroyed at the airbase, two more managed to survive, since they were already taxiing to the runway, two helicopters were destroyed, as well as all remaining air defense systems, including their radars and launchers (PU), fragments mowed down almost all personnel located near the targets being hit.
Approximately ten percent of the cluster submunitions did not explode in the air - they fell to the ground and detonated a few minutes later, when the enemy considered that the attack was over - someone got up from the ground, someone came out of cover - they all fell under a new portion of fragments.
One hundred and eight high-precision submunitions with a monoblock warhead destroyed all stationary easily erected buildings and structures, electrical substations and indoor diesel generators. Twenty more high-precision warheads with a caliber of about 300 millimeters with a monoblock warhead of increased power destroyed nine reinforced concrete fortifications for aircraft and collapsed two capital administrative buildings.
Two high-precision warheads of the penetrating type, equipped with ramjet engines, picked up a horizontal speed of up to 2 Mach and, having sharply changed their trajectory almost over the territory of the air base, rushed towards the ground, developing a speed of about 5 Mach in the final section. Two reinforced warheads penetrated into the ground several tens of meters and destroyed the only fortified underground command post at the airbase, which housed the Ukrainian command of the airbase and several high-ranking NATO officers.
Air Base Defense
After their radars were destroyed, two Patriot air defense systems and one NASAMS air defense system dropped out of the battle. Another NASAMS air defense system quickly used up its ammunition, ensuring the destruction of four submunitions with a cluster warhead and three submunitions with a monoblock warhead.
Skynex anti-aircraft artillery systems (ZAK) managed to shoot down four submunitions with a monoblock warhead before they were covered with fragments of exploding cluster munitions.
The latest DE M-SHORAD laser system was able to destroy only one submunition with a monoblock warhead, after which it was also covered with shrapnel. The power of the DE M-SHORAD laser complex made it possible to quite effectively hit low-speed air targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but it was clearly insufficient to hit high-speed targets.
At this point, the airbase defense forces ceased to exist.
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