Technical comparison of the Su-35C and F-15SE in the light of the “surface” nonsense of Nam Thang
A unique feature of the HBNUMX Irbis-E on-board radar mounted on the Su-035С super-maneuverable fighter is the ability to detect and track hypersonic aerospace targets flying at speeds up to 35 m / s (1527М)
At one time, numerous bloggers and combat lovers aviation posted on various Internet resources a lot of reviews and comparisons of the tactical fighter-bomber Su-34 with the American counterpart F-15E "Srike Eagle". All the advantages and disadvantages of both machines were clearly delineated. So, for example, the only drawbacks of the Su-34 can be considered a lower thrust-to-weight ratio, due to which the speed of the steady turn and rate of climb decreased, and the increased midship of the cabin, resulting in a decrease in speed from 2500 to 1900 km / h. In other respects, the Russian tactical fighter is confidently ahead of the American competitor. And what about the comparison of the Su-4S multi-role fighter of the 35 ++ generation with its overseas competitor F-15SE Silent Eagle? This question was recently puzzled by the Vietnamese "special and columnist" Nam Thang. Either due to pro-American views, or for some other reason, Thang, in his publication on the resource kienthuc.net.vn, conducted several comparative analyzes of the Russian Su-35C with the American F-15SE on various performance characteristics, according to which he determined the Silent Eagle as indisputable leader for the Vietnam Air Force upgrade program.
But the most interesting thing is that Mr. Thang argues his incompetent findings of technological identity with the Chinese Air Force, which, in his opinion, leads to defeat. So, the Su-35C enters the arsenal of the Chinese Air Force, and by purchasing similar Flanker-E +, Hanoi will not have advantages over the Chinese fighters. He also believes that the F-15SE has its own "highlights", inaccessible to our multipurpose.
Regular “clean” comparative reviews of only 2-s of military equipment are boring, but we are forced to do so by the numerous and inconsistent with the technical sense of the publication of such personalities as Nam Thang.
ALL THANKSHIP PUBLICATION - A GREAT TECHNICAL LNP
Despite the fact that the bulk of the Vietnamese arms market is represented by Russian military aircraft, non-nuclear submarines, modern anti-aircraft missile and anti-ship complexes, as well as tactical missile weapons, Nam Thang, inspired by the lifting of the arms embargo by the United States, announced by Barack Obama during visit to Hanoi, says at the beginning of his article about the need to shift the vector of defense purchases from Moscow to Washington. At the same time, there are huge doubts that Vietnam will be able to afford in 2 times more expensive contracts with American giants like Boeing or Lockheed Martin. Thang begins to contradict his preference, starting from the economic “germs” of all contractual moments. One Su-35С is estimated today at about 65 — 70 million dollars, F-15SE — about 100 million dollars, and this does not take into account the total lack of experience of the F-15C “Eagle” flight crews, as well as the necessary base for ground maintenance of these complex machines, which will require tens of millions of dollars. With “Dryers” everything is much simpler: the training of the flight crew was initially carried out in India on multi-purpose fighters Su-30MKI; The Vietnamese Air Force uses 5 two-seat combat training versions of the Su-27UBK fighter aircraft, which are excellent for training pilots on the Su-35С, at least in terms of flight and technical issues. Training in combat use can easily take place at the place of the operator of the Yak-130 combat training aircraft system, which easily imitates most types of tactical fighters, not only domestic, but also western.
The information field of the two pilots is formed around 3-x MFIs of size 15х20 cm on the instrument panel of the pilot and systems operator. Yak-130 is equipped with a digital electric remote control system (EDSU) KSU-130, which is able to imitate the handling of almost any modern tactical fighter, bomber or military transport aircraft at speeds up to 1050 km / h, of course, within allowable overload (8 units) and angle of attack (40 degrees). Contribute to this excellent aerodynamic qualities glider Yak-130: large aerodynamic flows at the root of the wing create additional lift, increasing the maximum angular speed of turn and the maximum angle of attack.
A separate item can be put unification of a huge range of rocket-bomb armaments of Russian and Western production, which can be envied by any modern attack aircraft or UBS from Scorpio to Aermacchi M-346 and A-10A. Adjustable air bombs KAB-500-ОД / КР, tactical guided missiles of the AGM-65 “Maverick” family, anti-ship missiles “Marte Mk2”, free-falling bombs Mk.82 and Mk.83 and other weapons can be used after adaptation of the suspension points and installing additional software in a computerized MSA.
To form such logistic and combat support for the F-15SE, including UBS with corresponding simulation programs and ground-based simulators, huge investments will be required. And now about technical issues.
Yak-130 is the most advanced combat training aircraft in the world.
The first and most important thing that the reader wants to convey Nam Thang to us is the perfection of the airborne radar with the AN / APG-63 (V) 3 AFAR. He argues that this radar greatly exceeds the Russian radar with PFAR HNNUMX "Irbis-E". As we know, with all the merits of this radar flaws in front of the "Irbis" it is also not devoid. Like any AFAR, AN / APG-035 (V) 63 does not have a mechanical drive to turn the blade in azimuth and elevation, and the viewing sector (electron beam transfer) is only 3 degrees in azimuth. To detect, track, and capture air targets in the side hemispheres, a reversal of the entire machine is necessary. Passive PHAR H60, on the contrary, has a mechanical antenna rotation, due to which the field of view is increased to 035 degrees. Mechanical dovorot avoids the energy loss of the radiation lobe, since the PPAR turns to the target with the whole area (it is normalized according to the "sin / cos" law). AFAR detection range with increasing angle relative to the roll of the fighter decreases, and the fighter for the "maintenance" of the target must come closer to it. Su-240C, unlike F-35SE, has no such disadvantage.
The detection range of a target with 1 m2 EPR (“Silent Eagle” with 2 AMRAAM on an external sling) at Irbis-E is 300 km, for AN / APG-63 (V) 3 - 145 km; This is when working within sector +/– 60 degrees. In large corners, the American radar does not see anything, but ours sees from the same range as the American one. At an angle of +/– 120 degrees relative to the roll of the Su-35С, “Irbis-E” sees the target with the EPR 1 м2 at the distance 135 — 145 km. Judge whose "child" is steeper. The throughput (channel) of “Irbis-E” is: for tracking - 30 targets, for capturing - 8 targets. For AN / APG-63 (V) 3: for tracking - 20 targets, for capturing - 6 VTs. Even the on-board computers from Super Hornets do not save, it is not surprising, since the Irbis has 1772 MRP, AN / APG-63 (V) 3 - 1500 MRP. Su-35, carrying on the suspension of the RVV-BD and medium-range RVV-SD long-range missile, has significantly larger intercept lines than the F-15SE (180 versus 300 km, respectively).
After being equipped with advanced air-to-kill interceptor missiles using the hit-to-kill concept, the Su-35C will be able to effectively intercept both hypersonic aerodynamic and ballistic targets, including fighters such as ATACMS, as well as guided missiles modern MLRS.
Of course, AN / APG-63 (V) 3 has advantages: the time between the AFAR to failure is much higher than that of the PPAR, each MRP has its own transmitter and receiver, which allows to maintain the operation even when the receiving and transmitting modules fail, The transfer of the electron beam is also faster, but this affects the fighting qualities slightly. The terrain mapping and ground target tracking modes are implemented with 1 m accuracy.
Thang recalls the presence of the F-15SE OEPS with AN / AAS-42 infrared channel in the control system, but the Su-35С also has an OLPK OLS-35, including infrared and television channels, as well as a laser rangefinder with a target designator function. The azimuth sector of its review is 90 degrees, the elevation is 75 degrees. In the front and rear hemispheres, the OLS-35 detects the F-15SE at ranges from 50 to 90 km, respectively: the Irbis radar can be turned off and the Silent airborne equipment will lose any effect.
The Vietnamese columnist claims that the F-15SE shows itself better at high altitudes and speeds, without seriously assessing the deflected vector of the “Drying” engines thrust. But what it is superior to our car, it is not entirely clear. The practical ceiling of both cars is about 18500 m, the speed of the F-15SE is highest at 150 km / h, which is almost irrelevant in aerial operations. But the deviating thrust vector of the AL-41F1C engines is crucial during close combat air combat not only with Silent Eagle, but also with highly manoeuvrable machines such as Rafale or F-22A.
Then, as an argument, the Su-35C combat load is given, which is 25-30% less than the F-15SE (8 vs. 10,5 tons). But this argument is a real “dust” when it comes to the nomenclature and characteristics of weapons, as well as the number of points of its suspension. The F-15SE “Silent Eagle” in its original version has 9 external suspension assemblies and 4 internal assemblies (expandable to different calibers of UR / bombs) built into conformal fuel tanks (KTB). We have already spoken about weapons for air combat more than once, but what about the shock? “Silent Eagle” can take on tactical tactical cruise missiles with a small ESR long-range AGM-158B “JASSM-ER”, planning a UAB AGM-154 “JSOW”, tactical missiles of the AGM-65 “Maverick” family, anti-ship missiles AGM-84 “ Harpoon ”, AGM-84H“ SLAM-ER ”missiles and other types of high-precision missile weapons. They are distinguished by low radar visibility, but all without exception are subsonic EHVs.
In the presence of modern air defense missile systems, this does not give the F-15SE any advantages compared to the Su-35C. On the 12 external points of the latter, practically all tactical rocket armament has a supersonic flight speed: PRLR X-58USHKE, X-31П, PCR X-31А and 3М51 Alpha. Also recently there was information that India is ready to supply the Vietnamese air force with BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles, which can be used both on board the Su-30MK2 and unified for use on the Su-35C. All of the above missiles are designed to destroy complex and well-protected targets with a breakthrough of the most powerful missile defense systems. Subsonic tactical missiles, which can be armed with F-15SE, do not have half the capabilities that are available for the Su-35С arsenal.
Finally, Thang argues that the Su-35S airborne element base is strongly inferior to the F-15SE “stuffing”, which is also not true. A fighter equipped with a radar with a PFAR "Irbis-E", an open architecture of the on-board computer for installing specialized containers RTR and EBC "Khibiny", as well as a powerful OLS-35, cannot be equipped with worse electronics than Silent. The pilot information field is represented by a dashboard with 2 large-format 15-inch MFIs, a special navigation and information indicator of communication under the HUD and an auxiliary display that duplicates the artificial horizon, altimeter and other sensors while the main radar and radar and RLS are displayed.
C-108, the Su-35C tactical communications system, belongs to a new generation. It is an analogue of the C-111-H onboard communications complex, which is used to equip the inconspicuous 5 generation T-50 PAK-FA fighters. Thanks to C-108, the Su-35С can support radio communication with other tactical aircraft at a distance of 500 km, and with ground-based command stations — 350 (depending on the radio horizon at different flight altitudes). Communication can be carried out both in AM and FM-range at frequencies from 30 to 399,975 MHz. There is a mode of pseudo-random adjustment of the operating frequency, which is a complex algorithm to protect against signal interception, there is also a software capability to scramble the communication channel. The frequency hopping mode can be used on the 2-x frequency bands (from 100 to 150 MHz and from 220 to 400 MHz). The power of the FM transmitter is 15 W, which is 2,5 — 3 times the power of a standard portable radio.
Now directly about the complex transfer of tactical information. Rebuilding the working communication channel has a frequency of 78125 Hz, therefore, intercepting this signal is as difficult as the signal of the Link-16 tactical network (77800 Hz). The frequency range of the tactical information exchange module is within 960 — 1215 MHz, which corresponds to the majority of similar Western systems. The data exchange rate with other units is 25 Kbps, and the terminal transmitter power is 200 W. As protection, the Reed-Solomon code is used, and the noise immunity is 15,5 dB / W. The C-108 communication system is the main network-centric base of the Su-35С, thanks to which the fighter almost “stepped over” into the 5 generation.
DISPLAY IS SIGNIFICANT
In his work, Thang tried to bring to us only that the Vietnamese Air Force, in conditions of the predominance of Russian Su-30 / 35 in IATR countries, needed an exclusively Western-made machine, "not the same as everyone else." He believes that “Silent Eagle” can succeed only thanks to a different element base, but completely neglects the comparative characteristic of this base with ours, which is much higher than the American one. Therefore, the overall assessment of the F-15SE in the article by Thang is frankly ridiculous and biased.
Information sources:
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?pid=156799#p156799
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fighter/su35bm.html
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fighter/f15se.html
http://www.paralay.com/paralay_tab.xls
http://www.paralay.com/allocer_tab.xls
Information