This "thirty-fifth" again...
The Baltic won't let go. It seems like such a quiet region, with its Scandinavians moldering in their relative savagery, its dying Tribaltian countries—a cozy little seaside spot where one can live and live in peace. There's no oil, no gas, no underwater placers on the shelf, and the amber has been practically all fished out. Only the Baltic herring remains, and even then, only crumbs...
But no, it's just not possible to live peacefully there. Someone, still unknown, blows up a pipeline, pirates start robbing oil tankers, or some insane number of Russian submarines start ripping up internet cables...
It's not easy living in the Baltic Sea. All sorts of things happen there all the time.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated in an interview with the American magazine Newsweek that the Baltic Sea has become a "NATO lake" after Finland joined the alliance.
Of course, the Finnish Navy is a very powerful threat. And the Finns' accession to NATO—that's something to be taken lightly. In fact, these calm guys could easily pelt the entire Gulf of Finland with mines, just like in the good old (and not so good) times. After all, the core of the Finnish Navy consists of six minelayers and 13 minesweepers. The rest are just minor details.
But let's not talk about what's beneath the waves, at least not yet. Let's talk about what's above the waves.
The air forces of various NATO countries—and now, in the Baltics, all but Russia—are NATO members—are concerned. They are primarily concerned that, somehow, Russia has managed to build and deploy a significant number of Su-35S fighters to the Leningrad and (more alarmingly) Kaliningrad regions, which has somewhat shaken the balance of power in the air.
We (and others) have already published materials in which NATO pilots expressed unenthusiasm about the prospect of fighting this aircraft, and there was a great deal of truth in those statements. The Su-35 is truly no match for the Griffon, Typhoon, and especially the Tornado and F-16, which are used by naval pilots. aviation divisions of different countries.
Okay, fine, the skeptics will say. Even a couple of squadrons of Su-35s is serious, but not fatal at all, and won't significantly impact the regional balance of power.
That's true. Something else played a role. After the Su-35S were redeployed to the Baltic, all Su-30s available to the 689th Fighter Aviation Regiment and the airbase in Chernyakhovsk (7052nd Guards Air Base) were reassigned to anti-ship missions.
The message is clear. Throughout the past year, we've seen an unhealthy escalation of tensions in the Baltics, triggered first by events in Venezuela and then around Iran.
This primarily resulted in a brief boost of courage for NATO aircrew, which quickly faded, primarily due to the seriousness of the Russian pilots. Meanwhile, the warships and coast guards of the Baltic states actively pursued the vessels, which they declared "shadow" fleet", and eventually several captures occurred.
All these stops, inspections to check for the presence of anything on board drones Various types of attacks, special devices for breaking bottom cables and other stupidities performed by the capture groups led to the adoption of a set of countermeasures.
At first, the ships' decks were demonstratively filled with men in uniforms bearing the insignia of a well-known international group. Then they were transferred to the Baltic via inland waterways. missile Corvettes. There are currently five more of them than usual, but even the daring British sailors didn't dare storm two tankers, with a frigate "suddenly" between them.
And so, in the end, anti-ship Su-30SM/SM2 appeared in the sky.
That is, armed with anti-ship weapons. And it all turned out quite impressive: the Su-35S, which has already proven itself a good destroyer of anything that emits radio waves, and paired with the Su-30, capable of ripping apart any warship, even a frigate. And that's all there are in the Baltic. But, looking ahead, I'll note that if a destroyer shows up, there'll be a treat for it, too.
Western industry publications note that the Su-30SMs fly practically unequipped for aerial combat, with a maximum of a couple of short-range air-to-air missiles. This makes sense: why carry extra equipment when you have the Su-35S?
What arguments are there under NATO's wings against the Baltic being a lake?
First of all, the X-35.
It's like the Kalashnikov assault rifle of the anti-ship missile world: relatively new (in service since 2003), but widely tested. The Kh-35 is the Uran on a ship and the Bal on land. So everyone knows exactly what this missile is capable of.
Guidance system: active radar homing head (BINS + SN + APRL homing head).
Warhead: high-explosive fragmentation penetrating type weighing 145 kg.
Launch range, km: up to 130 (Kh-35), up to 260 (Kh-35U).
Flight height, m:
on the marching section: 10-15;
at the final section: 3-4.
Flight speed, M: 0,8-0,85 (about 1,000 km/h).
Overall, it's not the most pleasant missile to get to know. There's no definitive information on whether the Su-30SM can defeat the Kh-35U, but the Su-34 certainly can and uses it.
By the way, some helicopters (Ka-27 and Ka-52K) can also use this missile; there is a special modification of the X-35V for them.
Next up, we have a relative newcomer. We ask you to love and favor the X-38.
In service since 2012.
The launch range is considerably shorter, up to 40 km. However, the speed is Mach 2,2, or 2,600 km/h.
The mass of the warhead - 250 kg.
That is, here we have the direct opposite of the X-25 - we fly closer, but faster, we hit harder with the same mass of 520 kg.
The Kh-38 missile is modular in its guidance system. This means that the seeker can be changed depending on the requirements of the day. All versions utilize a combined guidance system: during the cruise phase, the missile is guided inertially, and during the terminal phase of its trajectory, it switches to homing. Currently, four known versions of the missile are available, each with a different guidance system:
- Kh-38MLE — with laser seeker;
- Kh-38MKE — with GLONASS satellite navigation;
- Kh-38MTE - with a thermal imaging seeker;
- Kh-38MAE - with active radar homing head.
But the main cause for concern in NATO is our third guest on the program.
The Kh-31AD is a high-speed anti-ship missile designed to strike surface ships, including destroyers.
The Kh-31AD missile was accepted into service in 2016 and differs from its Kh-31A prototype in having a launch range almost twice as long and a warhead yield increased by 15%. It is equipped with a jam-resistant active radar homing head and is capable of penetrating the layered air defenses of a large group of ships.
In general, it is not without reason that the West has a complex about the missile.
The Kh-31AD is heavier than the two previous missiles, weighing 715 kg. Its warhead weighs 110 kg, which means it can carry more fuel. The missile's range is 120 to 160 km, which isn't particularly impressive, but its speed is impressive—approximately 3,500 km/h.
And this is quite a trump card: the faster a missile flies, the more difficult it is to intercept. This was proven by the Onyx, which broke the teeth of the Patriots, the IRIS-T, and everything else that Kyiv inherited from its masters.
The Kh-31AD has a classic guidance system: an inertial reference system + an active radar homing head in the final phase.
Today, the situation looks promising: missile-armed corvettes stationed in the Baltic Sea are effectively deterring attempts to approach our ships. It doesn't matter whose flag they fly—whether our country or a "shadow fleet"—those who want Russian oil must buy it. As the saying goes, whoever comes to us with a ruble will get a ruble's worth.
But anyone who wants to show off their incredible prowess by attacking and detaining unarmed ships should be forced to supply them. But we certainly don't have enough ships to handle the entire merchant fleet.
And here's where airborne special forces come in handy. A pair of Su-35S and Su-30SM2 fighters, with an arsenal sufficient to deter anyone, can arrive at the scene of mayhem much faster than any boat or ship.
Thus, it is already possible to respond to any peacetime threat quite quickly.
NATO emphasizes that this weapons configuration poses a grave danger to alliance ships in the Baltic gorges. The recent "de-escalation" decisions to abandon pursuit of the Russian "shadow fleet" are linked to Russian forces' activity, which is generally logical.
In short, yes, in the Danish Straits, where it was very convenient to intercept merchant ships, everything is very compact and cramped. It's difficult to maneuver. And here, an aircraft launching a missile "from the horizon" is a clear solution to the problem, since everything will depend on the ability of the NATO ship's crew to eliminate the emerging threat.
Our arsenal of arguments appears quite compelling. Three types of missiles with different guidance systems and different flight speeds—all of this seems like a major headache for anyone caught in the sights of the Su-30SM2 navigator/operator.
One cannot help but express satisfaction with the changes that have taken place, because these changes have benefited the country. Otherwise, why would NATO be so vocal?
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