"Kupol-N": ground-based echelon for destroying enemy orbital infrastructure
The image is illustrative, created by an unknown author based on the image of the Command and Measurement System "Phasan", designed to control spacecraft in near and middle space, located in elliptical, circular and stationary orbits
Recently in the material The ability to functionally suppress enemy satellites to prevent attacks deep into Russian territory we have considered that it is possible to ensure the guaranteed functional suppression of reconnaissance, navigation and communication satellites that enable the enemy to use high-precision weapons long range, it is almost impossible.
Thus, the only acceptable option is the complete physical destruction or disabling of the main equipment of the enemy's satellites.
In this material we will consider means of countering enemy satellites placed on the surface, both stationary and on mobile carriers.
Surface-to-space rockets
This is how it all started story anti-satellite weapons, and the current use missiles "surface-to-space" is the most well-developed method of combating satellites. At least the leading powers of the planet - the United States, Russia and China - have tested "surface-to-space" missiles, destroying their own satellites that have served their time.
By surface-to-space missiles we mean all their types, placed on various carriers – on wheeled platforms, silo launchers (SL), surface ships (SS) and submarines (SS).
The problem with surface-to-space missiles is that they are very expensive and therefore produced in fairly limited quantities. For example, it is safe to assume that the most common surface-to-space missile in service is the American RIM-161 SM-3 Standard Missile.
At the same time, according to open data, the US Navy (BMC) has only three hundred to five hundred of these missiles, which were delivered from the beginning of the 2000s to the present. According to open data, significantly fewer surface-to-space missiles of other types have been produced.
The situation could be partly corrected by placing several interceptors on one missile; for example, it is planned to place up to five interceptors on a promising modification of the SM-3 missile, but this has not yet been implemented.
Another disadvantage of surface-to-space missiles is that their launch is likely to be clearly visible to both space reconnaissance assets equipped with modern thermal sensors and long-range ground (surface) radar stations. It is possible that in some cases the attacked enemy satellite will be able to change its orbit and avoid destruction.
The advantage of surface-to-space missiles is the speed of their use – theoretically, any satellite that ends up in the kill zone can be destroyed as quickly as possible.
Thus, surface-to-space missiles are an important element in the destruction of satellites from the enemy's orbital infrastructure. However, they will not be able to ensure the destruction of all low-orbit satellites of the enemy, which are now launched into orbit in the thousands - several dozen to hundreds at a time.
Combat laser systems
Laser anti-satellite systems began to be developed in the middle of the 3th century, for example, we can recall the Soviet project "Terra-XNUMX". In the USA, similar programs were implemented within the framework of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program, however, the developments implemented then did not turn into serially operated weapons systems.
The remains of the building of the destroyed laser combat test station 5N76 of the Terra-3 testing complex at the Kazakhstan Sary-Shagan testing ground are the remains of another, more advanced civilization. I wonder if there is already a legend that Kazakhstan was the world leader in the creation of laser weapons?
Currently, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (AF RF) have a combat laser complex (BLK) "Peresvet", the capacity of which can potentially be a megawatt (MW) or more. We talked about the technical solutions on the basis of which the BLK "Peresvet" can potentially be implemented in February 2020 in the material Secrets of the Peresvet complex: how the Russian laser sword works?
During the tests of the American experimental laser complex Boeing YAL-1 megawatt class, it was possible to destroy target missiles at a range of about 150-250 kilometers. On the one hand, the satellites that we can attack with the help of the BLK Peresvet usually move in orbits at altitudes of about 300-900 kilometers, that is, much further.
On the other hand, low-orbit reconnaissance and communications satellites should be significantly more vulnerable to powerful laser radiation than target missiles simulating medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Target missiles have a robust all-metal body, while satellites have “delicate” solar panels, communications antennas, and reconnaissance equipment antennas/lenses exposed to attack.
In addition, no one prevents several Peresvet BLKs from attacking enemy satellites in a sequential and coordinated manner simultaneously. If the power of one Peresvet BLK is conditionally 1 MW, then by increasing the number of machines "in a salvo", we will get a power of 5 MW or 10 MW, which is necessary to guarantee the destruction of enemy satellites.
During the tests, it will be possible to determine what is more effective: to attack enemy satellites sequentially, using a certain number of Peresvet BLKs placed along the satellite's flight path, organizing something like a "relay race", or to concentrate a group of Peresvet BLKs at one point to inflict maximum damage in a minimum amount of time.
The cost of a shot from any type of laser weapon is negligible compared to the cost of enemy satellites or surface-to-space missiles. Also, in a number of regions of Russia there is no cloud cover for most of the year, so if enemy satellites pass over these regions, they can be attacked continuously, practically all year round and around the clock.
Well, the mobility of the Peresvet BLK will allow it to avoid attacks carried out by the enemy using long-range precision weapons.
Microwave weapon
In the material Microwave weapons: four Leonidas systems have already been transferred to the US Armed Forces, deployment on US Navy ships from 2026 We talked about the fact that this type of weapon is already in or close to being accepted into service with the US armed forces.
The Leonidas system is actually an active phased array (APAA) that operates only in transmission mode, but at increased power, and is designed to destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using powerful electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. The expected range of the Leonidas system may be several hundred meters.
Also currently being deployed in the United States are upgraded L3Harris Counter Communications Systems (CCS) designed to jam enemy satellites.
Some sources say that the said systems are only capable of functional suppression of enemy satellites, while others say that they are capable of completely disabling enemy satellites. In reality, as in the case of laser weapons, much may depend on both the altitude of the attacked satellite's orbit and the number of systems affecting it simultaneously.
Counter Communications System by L3Harris
Undoubtedly, focusing microwave radiation is much more difficult than laser radiation, and there are mutually exclusive contradictions here - the larger the parabolic antenna, the better it can focus a point source of electromagnetic radiation, however, the larger the antenna, the more difficult it is to point it and track an enemy satellite during combat operations.
Thus, in terms of creating microwave weapons, several options can be considered:
- firstly, by the type of emitter - a point emitter with a parabolic antenna, with a mechanical tracking device, and an emitter made according to the AFAR principle, with electronic beam redirection;
- secondly, by type of execution – mobile or stationary, in addition, the type of execution can also influence the choice of the type of emitter.
Undoubtedly, microwave weapons will take up much more space than laser weapons, so the placement of such weapons on motor vehicles is highly questionable. And the high power consumption of microwave weapons, capable of not jamming but disabling enemy satellites, may prevent their placement on railway platforms.
So what might a strategic microwave weapon capable of disabling enemy satellites look like?
Presumably, this could be a complex similar to the modular long-range detection radars of the Voronezh family from the Russian missile attack warning system (MAWS), in which the receiving part will be excluded and the radiation power will be increased, which could amount to tens of megawatts or more. Given the modularity of the strategic microwave weapon complex, its power can be increased in stages.
It can also be assumed that it is best to place such strategic microwave weapon systems near powerful sources of electrical energy, such as nuclear power plants (NPPs).
The deployment of a strategic microwave weapon complex near a nuclear power plant will not only provide for its needs for electricity, but will also allow the use of the said complex as an emergency consumer – a stabilizer for the operation of the nuclear power plant in the event of damage to transformer substations or power transmission lines (PTL) by the enemy, so that in this case there is no need to urgently shut down the reactor.
And not every enemy will dare to shoot at objects located near a nuclear power plant, unless, of course, it is the out-of-control armed forces or the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine.
Conclusions
As we have said many times, it is precisely superiority in space that now largely determines victory or defeat on earth.
At present, Russia lags significantly behind the United States and China in the deployment of modern orbital infrastructure, including reconnaissance, navigation and communications satellites, which ensure, among other things, the effective use of long-range precision weapons.
The creation of a ground-based echelon for the destruction of the enemy’s orbital infrastructure under the code name “Kupol-N” can partially neutralize the enemy’s superiority in outer space, ensuring parity or advantage for the Russian Armed Forces on the ground in confrontation with the enemy’s armed forces.
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