One of the main reasons for the creation of ground-based missile defense positional areas on the territories of the western states of the Arabian Peninsula, which will also include the new air defense / missile control center in Qatar, is the absolute impossibility of the Aegis, a US Navy ship from the Persian Gulf, which will be under full Iranian control fleet. Given the likely escalation of the conflict between the Sunni "Arabian coalition", Israel, supported by the United States and the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran (may erupt on the basis of the same Hussites or independent actions of the Israeli leadership, dissatisfied with the progress of Iranian missile weapons), you need to know that the tactical situation is here will be completely different from the one we remember during the Gulf War. The Iraqi fleet, equipped with 9 obsolete and lightly armed Yugoslav patrol ships of the “PB-90” type, 1 training frigate “Ibn Marjid”, 8 Project RK 205, 1 Project RK 1241RE, as well as Soviet raid minesweepers and other auxiliary ships, are technically not could block the Strait of Hormuz, hampering the approach of the OWMS of the anti-Iraq coalition to the shores of Kuwait and Iraq. In addition, several other factors affected the stiffness of the Iraqi Navy: the lack of an underwater component from a Varshavyanka class diesel-electric submarine, only one large Umm-Qasr naval base, as well as the primitive air defense systems that covered this base in the year 91, for which the fleet was destroyed in the very first hours after the outbreak of hostilities. The Iranian Navy controls the modern Persian Gulf coastal SCRC to the shores of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as most of the Gulf of Oman, including the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. At the very beginning of the military operation, the strait will turn into a “restricted zone” for coalition fleets, and the ultra-low-noise submarines of Project 877 Halibut (Iran has 3 of them) will push American AOGs to the southern part of the Gulf of Oman, where the anti-missile qualities of the Aegis will be useless in terms of defense Saudi Arabia. Only the Patriots and THAADs located in Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE will be able to carry out the tasks
Several of our reviews have repeatedly discussed the enormous importance for the United States and the West of maintaining the significant strike and defensive capabilities of the Arabian coalition countries, which are NATO’s main springboard to retain control of Western and Central Asia, where allied cooperation of Iran, Syria and CSTO countries are increasingly squeezing the imperial ambitions of the West from the region. The Iranian Air Force’s transfer of 4's anti-aircraft missile battalions of the C-XNUMPPMU-300 complexes, as well as a large-scale program for the development of medium-range ballistic missiles led to numerous defense contracts between the Gulf countries such as Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, and the leading US aviation giant. Boeing Corporation for the purchase of 2 + / ++ F-4E “Strike Eagle” and F-15SE “Silent Eagle” F-15E tactical fighter jets, and also with “Lockheed Martin” for upgrading existing versions of F-16C .
But the question of protecting these states is already so acute that the sale of equipment for the Air Force alone is not enough, and Washington has embarked on a stage of active operational deployment, which in scale will soon surpass the period of US presence in the region during hostilities in Iraq. The buildup of US forces in the countries of the Persian Gulf coast is skillfully masked by the internal defense programs of these states, and also obscured by larger military-strategic differences between the Russian Federation and the United States in the Far East.
At the end of April, 2016, at a joint press conference by Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Van Y, who discussed the issue of interaction between states on resolving the situation in hot currents of the world (Syria, Yemen) and Vladimir Putin’s summer visit to the Middle Kingdom, condemned the plans US leadership on the deployment in South Korea of missile defense systems regional missile defense system of the upper line "THAAD". S. Lavrov accused Washington of militarization of Northeast Asia under the cover of the need to contain the missile threat from the DPRK. This question, although not a strategic threat to our and the Chinese Strategic Missile Forces in all aerospace directions, undoubtedly creates a significant tactical inconvenience for the BR, which can be launched from the Far Eastern regions of the states. The proximity of South Korea suggests that an acceleration (the most vulnerable to the THAAD missile defense system) section of the missile trajectory will pass over its territory. At the same time, for the PRC, the threat from this complex is hundreds of times higher than for us, since in the event of a global conflict, the trajectory of ballistic missiles launched across the United States will pass over South Korea and then over Japan. The United States has already insured itself with the two land frontiers of the regional missile defense system (Kazakhstan and Korea), as well as the sea in the Pacific (based on the Aegis). Also, the "South Korean THAAD" is being created to protect the future largest US military base in Pyeongheek.
And against the background of these questions, the difficult “kneading” is quickly starting on the Arabian Peninsula. They talk about it a little, but the value of the discharge concentration of American missile carriers on the Australian air base Tyndall, and, perhaps, higher.
Resource defense.gov posted on 6 in May news about an increase in 29 million of the value of the contract with Qatar on the construction of a control center for air defense and missile defense of a small Persian state. Complete the facility under construction by Raytheon Co. - Integrated Defense System ", is planned for the summer of next year. But why should little Qatar, who is “under the wing” of Saudi Arabia, along with plans to purchase F-15E, and also the command center of the air defense system? After all, “Strike Needles” needs Qatar for self-sufficiency in carrying out operations in the Middle East theater and throughout Western Asia, and the echeloned missile defense system has the most narrowly defined goals with which you can find out the level of significance of the military, economic and geopolitical infrastructures defended in the country, and also determine coordination and interest of neighboring allied states. The military-political picture concerning Qatar around the construction of a missile defense position area with a command center is represented by a complex structure with a large number of interested parties.
The photo shows the refueling of a strategic ground-target designation aircraft E-8C "J-STARS" by the US Air Force using Kto-135 "Stratotanker" air transport tanker. These machines, during the exacerbation of the military-political situation, are periodically transferred to the Arabian Peninsula to monitor the movements of ground forces and surface ships of the enemy, as well as the continuous supply of the Arabian Coalition fighter jets to the air, and their main air base is the Qatar "El -Dead. " E-8C "J-STARS" are also considered strategic air command posts (CPSU) of the theater of operations, since the information about the tactical situation coming from its side reflects the most clear picture of what is happening on the earth's surface among any other intelligence equipment. Installed on the upgraded Boeing 707-300 two-way multifunctional radar with a phased-slot antenna array AN / APY-3 has a synthetic aperture mode and works in the X-band centimeter waves, which allows you to scan the earth's surface, with moving and stationary objects on it, with precision to 10 m - 15 m. The synthesized aperture itself (SAR, - synthetic aperture radar) is a very complex mixture of software and physical solutions related to the coherent principle of radar operation. The AN / APY-3 antenna arrays installed in the radio-transparent coke under the front part of the “Joint STARS” fuselage have a length of about 7,3 meters. As the E-8C moves in space, continuous scanning of the selected sector of the earth / sea surface occurs in a solid angle AN / APY-3 equal to 120 degrees. At the same time, the resulting radar image is not composed of the momentary image radiated and reflected from the targets, but from the summation of a large number of similar sessions held every moment of time when the radar moves in space exactly the length of its own radiating aperture, this mode is also called “consistent”. So, if the cruising speed of the E-8C is 850 km / h (236 m / s), then in just 1 a second the radar image from the 32 AN / APY-3 scanning sessions is compiled sheniyu 236-meter-slotted phased antenna array, which is ten times higher than that of the small SAR mode antenna array radar AN / APG-81 fighter F-35A. The photographic quality of the J-STARS radar images is also achieved by the fact that the radar provides a side view of the surface, which means that each new session is already done from a new angle relative to the monitored target in azimuth. This makes it possible to classify a ground unit or structure at distances up to 250 km directly from its EPR and image in the X-ray image even in the case of its radio silence, in the most difficult meteorological conditions. Side-mounted airborne radars have the most important tactical dignity: in the course of observing the theater, there is no need to approach the enemy’s missile-dangerous areas, the E-8C can patrol a great distance from the target, flying around it in 250 km, and the threat can only come from the most long-range S-type air defense systems -400 "Triumph", closing this distance, but these systems are only for individual states (Russia, China, and later - India).
Indeed, Doha today has what and from whom to defend. Firstly, the country is the main sponsor of the IG, al-Qaeda. And the latter, as you know, acts against the Yemenite Hussites from Ansar-Allah, which means in favor of the entire "Arabian coalition" and the United States. Doha spends billions of dollars to support these trends and, of course, conducts training of militants in special institutions and at training grounds. Secondly, this is the US El-Udeid air base, with which the strategic aviation and which is the headquarters of the Central Command of the US Armed Forces and the US Air Force Command. Thirdly, it is preparing for the transfer to southern Yemen, the American attack helicopter aircraft, which will be discussed in the second half of the article. It is also clear that in the Qatari air defense center under construction, most of the officer-operators will be represented by highly qualified US military, and not by the Qatari staff.
About radar and anti-aircraft missile systems assigned to this center, so far nothing is known, but it will not be difficult to assume that the Pentagon will deploy here. Qatar is located on the central part of the coast of the Persian Gulf and is issued to the bay in the form of a small peninsula. This makes Qatar a unique forward base for the deployment of the Patriot PAC-2 / 3 complexes, as well as the THAAD anti-missile system, which can also protect US military facilities of most of Saudi Arabia’s airspace and the UAE. The missile defense system in Qatar will very quickly become the central link of the air defense identification zone of the Arabian Peninsula, whose boundaries will confidently (closely) reach the airspace of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The deployment of the northern link of the new formation of air defense should be expected in Kuwait, the southern - in the Gulf of Oman (based on the EM and the Aghis RCR system). Thus, the AF, US Navy and Air Force will try to create here a strategic demarcation line with Iran, similar to that now observed in the South China, East China and Japan Seas. The command of the US Armed Forces is hoping for a full-fledged defense of the vital Arabian Peninsula from Iranian BRs of the Sajil family (range about 2000 km), as well as the strategic Meskat cruise missiles (also 2000 km), designed on the basis of the X-55M acquired in Ukraine. Of course, it will not hold up a full blow to the IRI, but it is quite capable of weakening it in order to preserve the “Arabian springboard”. Americans are trying with all their might to preserve their interests here.
In addition, the US Armed Forces launched an operation to transfer special forces, as well as attack and attack helicopter helicopters to carry out direct support of troops to the Al-Anad Yemen military base located in the southern province of Lahij. 100 of Apache and 15 Black Hawk helicopters became known to 5 on May 7 of the year in Al-Khabar about sending 2016 US troops to Yemen, as well as support in the form of XNUMX helicopters Apache and XNUMX. According to the official version, the American contingent was redeployed to the southern part of Yemen to destroy the al-Qaeda formations. But the true goal is completely different, because Al-Qaeda works from the territory of Saudi Arabia against the Yemeni organization of the Hussites (Shiites-Dzeydites) Ansar-Allah, i.e. almost on the side of the West. Therefore, the conclusion is unequivocal: the plan for large-scale military support of the Arabian army and the Yemeni government forces in confrontation with the Hussites is a priority for the US Armed Forces, as the situation shifts in favor of the latter, especially after clearing the Umalika military base, and the first days of May were characterized by significant progress in ousting al-Qaeda from the towns of Jaar and Zinjibar by the Hussites, which is not good for the Saudis.
The tactical missile systems Tochka-U and Elbrus used by Yemeni Hussites have already shown the Saudis who is the master in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula: several powerful strongholds in the southern provinces of Saudi Arabia with a contingent from the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and etc. Patriot PAC-2 / 3 anti-aircraft missile systems were able to intercept a very limited number of these, despite the fact that the Pentagon always shows generosity to Riyadh, supplying the highest quality defensive weapons in large enough volumes: what are the 70 F-only ones 15S (demonstrating the 16 missiles of the air combat on the suspensions recently), as well as the 5 of the DRLO E-3A aircraft, capable of tracking these OTBRs since the moment they left the PU in Yemen. The US Armed Forces were alarmed, moving their Apaches to Al-Anad airbase in southern Yemen, controlled by Hadi troops. After all, Ansar Allah, capturing daily a huge amount of modern captured weapons from the Saudis, has every chance to develop an offensive operation on the eastern part of Yemen, breaking through the defense of the Arabian coalition and government forces of Yemen near the city of Al Hazm, and then squeezing Al Qaida from Tarim and the mountains of Habshiya. As a result, the Hussites could be promoted to the region of the Mahrat mountains, which would be a real “sentence” for the most important strategic object of the US Air Force in Southwest Asia. The firing lines of the Elbrus of the American airbase of operational interaction in Oman Thumright are being opened from the mountains of Mahrat. Information on this object appears very rarely, but it is known that a significant number of American tactical fighter planes are based on it, as well as more than 20 thousand personnel at attached military facilities located on the coast near the Gulf of Aden, as well as at the additional air base “Al- Masirah "on the island of Masirah of the same name. Avb Thumright is located at an 480-meter altitude, and the runway length is 4 km, which allows you to receive and send Hercules loaded with equipment and equipment, and even the giant Galaxy C-5A-M, which can also be based anti-submarine patrols P-8A Poseidon aircraft controlling the Indian Ocean and tanker aircraft with strategic bombers. Command of the US Armed Forces considers Tumrayt "central nervous system" in providing operational and safe transport links between the OVV contingent and NATO naval forces in Europe and the main springboard of the US Navy's 5 fleet at a base near Manama (Bahrain). The al-Masirah airbase has a shorter landing strip (3 km), but has its advantage: 2,5 has large berthing facilities in 2 km, through which various necessary equipment or airborne units can quickly be reloaded.
Now in detail about the most likely range of tasks assigned to the pilots 15 "Apache". It is known that the significant success of the Ansar Allah, supported by Iran and the DPRK, is also achieved through the skillful use of the tactical missile systems Tochka-U and Elbrus, which succeeded in destroying many military installations of the Arabian coalition, in particular, large warehouse arsenal of artillery ammunition in the province of Marib. Also, the honed antitank tactics of the Houthis made it possible to fight even against the Saudi Abrams M1A2 at the expense of correctly chosen angles of attack to the advancing units. The vaunted American MBTs are destroyed even by outdated "Bassoons" and "Metisami" in the side armor plates of the hull and tower.
The Apache attack helicopters (on the top photo of AH-64D Apache Longbow) and UH-60 Black Hawk (bottom photo) were transferred to the Al-Anad airbase from the Indiana combat ship, which was located in Red Sea. The role of "Apache" will be described in detail below, but why is there also a Black Hawk 4? The multipurpose vehicle allows limited assault special operations to be conducted behind enemy lines, as well as providing fire support to infantry with the help of M2 Browning large-caliber machine guns installed on board the helicopter. Knowing about the weak defense of the Hussites, the US Armed Forces will use helicopters to destroy various Ansar Allah military facilities, which could later be launched into eastern Yemen and pose a threat to US Air Force military facilities in Oman
The Apaches are able to play a certain role in undermining the Ansar Allah combat stability by hunting for the Hussite 9P129М-1 ("Tochka-U") and 9P117М ("Elbrus") mobile launchers. AH-64A / D attack helicopters from the Al-Anad military base (slightly south of the territory controlled by the Hussites) are capable of performing covert strike operations throughout the south-western part of Yemen due to a range of over 350 km. The low-altitude approach of the Apaches to the targets can pose a great danger to the Ansar Allah army units due to the fact that they do not have any modern radar and optical electronic warning devices or any type of aviation reconnaissance equipment. The question may spontaneously arise: why the United States Air Force and Navy do not force events, as it did in Iraq and Yugoslavia, do not launch hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles at hussite strongholds, do not “forge” MK-shkami from B-52H Stratofortress "and B-2" Spirit ", do not plant perfectly prepared ILC, etc.?
And the answer is very simple: there is absolutely no interest in this. The sluggish conflict on a very small, but very hot "heel" of Yemen is very beneficial for the White House, and attacks on the army of Saudi Arabia are also beneficial. By sending the Apache drums there, the US Armed Forces can quickly solve their main task - to eliminate the threat of ballistic missiles firing at Saudi Arabia’s airbases, which will always be the main tasty piece for the US, in addition to oil. The conflict itself will continue, and the US military will be present in Yemen "for show", creating a kind of support for the "Arabian coalition." Saudi Arabia itself, as practice has shown, will do absolutely nothing with the Hussites, and, under the threat of losing its own territories, will need constant US military support, which will not allow the main Persian kingdom to dictate any conditions that the West does not seem to be very profitable. The US shackled the peninsula hand and foot, and no change is expected.
There is a tendency of a phased formation of military-strategic "poles" by the West, slowly closing the circle around Russia and its allies in the Far East, in all parts of Asia and Europe, including oceanic theaters. For this purpose, the Malabar naval exercises between the USA, India and Japan are held, exercises in the Black Sea with the fleets of Turkey and Romania, and the American-Georgian military exercises Noble Partner - 2016, which started on May 11, are on the “snack” near the military base Vaziani. More than 1300 US, British and Georgian troops, as well as more than 10 OBT M1A2 "Abrams" and a number of BMN M2 "Bradley" take part in them. Such exercises in Vaziani are a regular action, but the current technology park is of real interest.
“Abrams” and “Bradley” on Georgian territory are a clear indication that the US Army is studying the relief and type of soil in the Caucasus to gain sufficient experience in conducting probable military actions in this region, which is a different, more concise statement (“development of the territory of Georgia” ) was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. And this is just the beginning.