Don't fly to Poltava, Swede!
The previous article raised the issue of Sweden going to war with Russia. And in this war, the regular aircraft of the Air Force of this country, namely its latest version Gripen E, is assigned a very significant role.
In this review, we will try to contrast the JAS.39 Gripen E-series with Russian aircraft. Some of them, which will have the highest chance of meeting. It is definitely not worth taking all of them. For example, it is not worth taking the MiG-31. It flies faster, sees further, and if the "Griffin" were low-noise, it is not... About missiles let's keep quiet, the 31st is still Freken Bock with a knockout against Carlson, and a meeting of these two planes will be fatal for the Swedish one. But the MiG-31 is not encountered in the sky every day, so we will talk about those planes that are more likely to meet.
In general, it is common practice in the world to compare aircraft of the same class. That is, similar in size, weight, number of engines and armament. And here there are inconsistencies.
For example, if we take the Kenyan Air Force in a conflict with the US for... well, it's not hard to imagine what the US could "bend" the African country over. Well, Kenya has F-5E/Fs from the 70s. And they won't do anything to the Super Hornets, even if they try very hard. Different class. But this doesn't mean that the Americans will start rummaging through their bins and sending relics of the last century to war; on the contrary, they will happily destroy the flying rarities.
So in our case, the JAS.39 should be compared with the MiG-29, or better yet, with the MiG-35, but what to do if one went into history, and the second one did not show up for duty due to circumstances beyond his control? And the Griffin will have to deal with the Su-30 or Su-35?
In general, you can find material on the Internet in which the JAS.39 is compared to the Su-27. This would be an interesting work, if not for some aspects of this comparison, which, by the way, was very well received on that side. Of course, in the West, everyone liked that the JAS.39 turned out to be almost a head above the Russian aircraft, but here's the problem: the Saab JAS-39 was compared not to the Su-27, but to the Chinese Shenyang J-11, arguing that the J-11 is a 100% copy of the Su-27.
In general, of course, yes, the J-11A is built on the basis of the Su-27SK airframe, but is equipped with a Chinese WS-10A engine and has a large share of Chinese avionics.
It's like coming to the race track to "take a ride" not in a Porsche Macan, but in its copy Zotye SR9. In a Chinese one, of course. The external resemblance is one to one, but the filling... Well, the results will be corresponding.
In fact, in 2015, the Falcon Strike exercises took place in China, during which J-11As engaged in mock battles with Thai JAS.39C/Ds, and according to the judges, the Chinese lost the battles.
JAS-39C Gripen of the Royal Thai Air Force
But, as in any complex matter, there are nuances here. In general, during the exercises, Chinese and Thai pilots discovered each other almost simultaneously. It is a question of evaluation and calculation, but nevertheless: the Chinese fighter turned out to be no worse than the Swedish one.
If we are talking about a confrontation between Sweden and Russia somewhere there, off the Swedish coast, as the Scandinavians squeal about, then even the Su-27 is unlikely to be an opponent for the JAS.39. The reason is the same as why we do not compare the JAS.39 with the MiG-29: the absence of aircraft that are gradually being withdrawn from service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
So, alas – but Su-30 and Su-35. As they say, with all the wealth of choice, the alternative is weak, but, you must admit, this is already the Swedes' problem. Selecting aircraft for a "knightly" duel is the stupidest stupidity.
So, we lift the planes into the air and start to spin and examine them
Weight and dimensions characteristics.
The planes, as already mentioned, are from completely different classes, the Su-35S weighs more empty than the JAS.39 with a maximum load on takeoff. Russian planes are twice as big in terms of size and weight, and in this the JAS.39 has more minuses than pluses. Of course, a small plane is somewhat more difficult to detect, but here the question is, which is more useful.
Engines.
The JAS.39 has one engine, with a capacity of 6 kgf in normal mode and 560 kgf in afterburner.
The engines of Russian aircraft, and there are two of them, are AL-30F2S for the Su-31SM1, with a power of 7 kgf in normal mode and 770 kgf in afterburner for each.
The Su-35S carries two AL-41F1S engines, with a power of 8 kgf in normal mode and 800 kgf in afterburner mode.
That is, the power-to-weight ratio of Russian aircraft is 2-3 times higher.
Hence, our speed and flight characteristics are as follows:
The JAS.39 can fly up to 1 km at a speed of 500 km/h near the ground and 1 km/h at altitude, while climbing to an altitude of up to 400 meters.
The Su-30SM2 has twice the range of 3 km with almost the same speed of 000 km/h at ground level and 1 km/h at altitude, but the ceiling of the Russian fighter is 360 meters.
The Su-35S flies at a range of up to 3 km (without drop tanks) at a speed of 600 km/h at ground level and 1 km/h at altitude. The ceiling is 400 meters.
We see some superiority in the numbers, but the Griffin does not need a long range, the Swedes plan to work defensively. The speed is approximately comparable, but Russian aircraft can climb higher, which gives certain advantages over ground-based air defense systems.
It could be argued that the smaller JAS.39 will be more maneuverable, and therefore, under certain conditions, it will have an advantage, but the JAS.39 engine is a slightly modified General Electric F414-GE-39E from the F/A-18 Super Hornet for a single-engine aircraft, a proven, reliable engine with a very decent service life, but Russian aircraft will have an advantage due to their engines with a thrust vector controlled in two planes.
In addition, it is worth remembering (and many experts do) that engine power is not only the ability to fly fast or far. It is also the amount of energy generated that can be spent on electrical impulses. More precisely, to convert the energy of the exhaust gases of the engine into electrical energy, and then spend it on impulses, and equally useful impulses of a powerful and long-range radar or jamming systems.
Everything is clear with speed and maneuver, as well as with stealth. The creators of all three aircraft did not waste any effort on fashionable and expensive stealth, paying little attention to it.
But there is another parameter that, for some reason, is not usually discussed along with the others. This is the ability to detect enemy aircraft.
In fact, stealth and the ability to notice are two sides of the same card, and if one parameter is sacrificed for the other, the card will be beaten.
The JAS.39 has a Selex-ES Raven ES-05 AFAR radar on a mobile mount with a target detection range of up to 160 km with a viewing angle of ±100 degrees, which is generally quite decent. There is also an IR radar that detects the heating of the skin of other aircraft even at subsonic flight speeds, although the Swedes are silent about the reliable detection range. But it is clear that the whole concert was started in order to complicate the life of the "stealths".
But in our case all this electronics is good, but there is a problem: Russian aircraft are not stealth at all, and moreover: the JAS.39 itself is not stealth. The data on the RCS of the Griffin is very contradictory, work was done to reduce it, but in general the JAS.39 "shines" as a normal aircraft of this class. If we take the MiG-29 as a normal aircraft of this class, which has an RCS of 5 sq.m., and the JAS.39 is slightly smaller, plus work to reduce the RCS, then we can accept 2-3 sq.m. as the actual figure for the Griffin, even if it is somewhat flattering.
And the situation is not very pleasant: the N035 Irbis radar, which is already being installed on the Su-35S and will be installed on the Su-30SM2, although it lacks some of the bonuses of an AFAR radar, since the Irbis has a passive phased antenna array, but it also has its advantages:
- The Irbis headlights rotate with the help of electro-hydraulic drives and cover an angle of 120 degrees;
- the Russian radar is significantly more powerful than the Italian one (Selex-ES Raven ES-05 is produced by the Italian company Leonardo) and will be able to detect the JAS.39 at a distance that is, to put it mildly, uncomfortable for the Swedish aircraft.
During tests on the Su-035 (yes, much larger than the JAS.27), the H39 detected it at a distance of 300 km, and the capture was made from a distance of 250 km. At 1 kW of power. The full working power of the Irbis is 5 kW (at peak, for a short time, 20 kW), that is, if the JAS.39 were five times smaller than the Su-27 (in fact, 2 times), the detection distance would be fatal.
There are many options, but the fact that our fighters will see and capture the Griffin while outside the range of its radar is very likely true.
There are, of course, some nuances. The Griffins can be assisted by ground-based long-range radars, they can “highlight” the ships that are at sea at that moment… Although this is also a matter of course: for every radar there is an Kh-31 or Kh-58 under the wing of the Su-35S, and the ship… No, the Swedish Navy has very nice Visby-class corvettes, the first full-fledged “stealth” ships in the world, supposedly unnoticeable, but their electronic weapons, as well as Defense, leaves much to be desired.
The Ericsson Sea Giraffe AMB radar is quite good at detecting air targets at distances of up to 100 km, but this distance cannot be called impressive, especially since the basic RBS 23 Bamse air defense system installed on Swedish ships has a flight range of only 20 km and an altitude of up to 15 km.
In general, the Su-34 can easily grin at such a nuisance as the Kh-35 (145 kg of explosive in the warhead) from a completely safe distance. By the way, this beauty (Kh-35) can also be taken by the Su-35S. So, ours can launch the Kh-35 from at least 130 km, that is, from outside the observation range.
But we have digressed a bit, in essence the question turns out that the Su-35S can easily observe all the evolutions of the Griffin, being outside the visibility range of the Swedish aircraft's radar. And this is unpleasant.
But even more unpleasant will be the question of the use of weapons.
The JAS.39, it should be noted, has a very decent range of weapons used. And quite balanced. We will look at everything that can be hung under the wings of the Swedish fighter and what can be sent somewhere in the direction of these big guys with stars on their wings.
IRIS-T SLM.
A very good missile with a good dual-mode seeker and good protection against EW and an IR decoy, with speed, can work as an anti-missile but... Range up to 40 km.
AIM-9 Sidewinder.
A classic of the air-to-air family, reliable, unpretentious, and most importantly – effective weapon, proven over the years and by downed aircraft. The increasingly sophisticated IR seeker makes the "snake" dangerous for any aircraft, but... at short (up to 20 km) distances.
A-Darter.
This is the brainchild of an entire conglomerate, the missile was developed by the South African concern Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron) and Brazilian manufacturers SIATT, Avibras and Opto Eletrônica. This is a new missile that is successfully moving into the military equipment markets, it has many advantages and one, in our opinion, disadvantage - a range of 22 km.
AIM-120 AMRAAM.
This missile already looks more serious, since its range is from 100 to 120 km. The only downside of the missile, perhaps, is the active radar guidance, which can be countered by electronic warfare systems. Well, and the price of one million dollars per piece. And this is, perhaps, the most dangerous weapon of the Swedish aircraft.
Meteor.
The latest word in European design thought, engineers from Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden worked for 20 years and finally, they got the "Meteor", capable of flying 200 km. But there is a nuance here: an aircraft whose radar "sees" a maximum of 160 km, will be able to control the missile, but not along the entire flight trajectory. In general, the "Meteor" can fly, like a normal missile, according to its sensors of the active radar guidance system, at a distance of up to 60 km. And to fly longer distances, you will need not only an inertial reference system, but also a certain update of target data directly in flight.
And the price of the Meteor is simply amazing: 2 euros per piece.
JAS.39 Gripen is an aircraft that can cope with such a task, since it has more than enough electronics, to launch a missile somewhere in the enemy’s area, where it will activate its radar seeker, and will find who it needs – this is not a problem. The main problem is to know where the enemy is.
There may be troubles hanging under the wings of Russian aircraft called R-37M. Yes, once only the MiG-31B could carry this missile, but time passed, and the R-37M became friends with both the Su-27 and the Su-35.
The principle of operation of the missile is absolutely the same as the Western one (more precisely, the Meteor is similar to the R-37M), that is, the missile flies to the target area using its inertial system, receiving cues from the carrier aircraft, and upon reaching the area, it activates its guidance systems, searches for the target and attacks.
Or – it’s even simpler: if the range of the carrier aircraft’s radar exceeds the range of the missile, then there are no problems: the pilot or operator (if it’s a Su-30SM2) monitors the missile’s flight all the time, adjusting its guidance to the target.
In general, the longer-range radars of Russian aircraft can provide pilots with the most important thing: the ability to see the enemy first and send him a longer-range greeting with a high guarantee of hitting.
The network-centricity of the JAS.39 and its electronic filling is not bad at all, it makes the Griffin a really decent aircraft from the class of light fighters, maybe even the best in the world, but in the case of the confrontation with Russia announced by Swedish politicians, this may not be enough.
Russian aircraft can fly beyond the range of Swedish air defense systems, above Swedish fighters, which is very important in modern conflicts, since, as the SVO has shown, air defense systems have dispersed aircraft from medium altitudes, that is, where they are most effective, and aircraft are left to operate either from very high altitudes or at a distance from enemy lines.
And this means that the range of ammunition used from aircraft plays an increasingly important role, no less than the range of radar. And here we have the Irbis, which allows us to “take” a target with an EPR of 3 sq.m. at a distance of 350-400 km and the R-37M missile, which flies at 300 km, and, as a target indicator, we can use the A-50, suspended somewhere in a safe area.
The Swedes are certainly great guys
They created an excellent aircraft that is capable of much in terms of protecting the country's air borders. But here, perhaps, the question is in what weight class the game will be played. In sports terms, Swedish hockey players are famous masters of their craft, but in the ring of fights without rules they will be... somewhat ineffective.
The same goes for the planes. Of course, go to war with Russia or give some of them to the Kyiv drug addict dictator, which is basically the same thing. The question is the materialization of Swedish state paranoia, which has practically become an ideology: all these Russian submarines off the coast, drones- scouts in the skies and the approaching nightmare of Russian aggression...
However, the Swedes, who have a good stock of folk wisdom, say this: "Det man inte har i huvudet får man ha i benen", which basically corresponds to our "A bad head gives the legs no rest", and therefore we can only watch how events develop.
In the previous article I called JAS.39 Carlson who grew up and became evil. It seems that yes, the plane has indeed evolved, but: the hero of the fairy tale about the flying slob should not go to Poltava. This is a completely different fairy tale, and its ending for the Swedish characters was very unpleasant at the time.
But the funniest thing is that Carlson, that is, "Griffin", can easily end up in Poltava, which, admittedly, is no longer the Russia of those times. But to run into Russians there and get it in the neck - that's the kind of story that could repeat itself. It's a complicated thing, this story, especially because it has the unpleasant property of repeating itself. For us, for example, Kharkov has repeatedly become a very bitter moment, for the Hungarians - the small town of Korotoyak in the Voronezh region, and for the Swedes - Poltava.
For a country with such a small population and potential, the work was simply top-notch. The Swedes were able to not only make decent cars and trucks, their aircraft are also very respected in the world. And the JAS.39 "Griffin" is an excellent aircraft for its class, possessing everything necessary for work both independently and together with allies. But that the "Griffin", even the latest modification, will be able to defeat Russian fighters - this is very doubtful, as stated above.
It's not worth going to Poltava, honestly, it's not worth it...
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