/Pogled.info/ The Ministry of Defense of Russia for the first time announced the successful interception of two American ADM-160B MALD missiles in the SVO zone. Moreover, the USA has not officially announced the delivery of missiles of this type to Kiev. For what weapons and what other Western means of defeating aviation are used by the Air Force, see in the material.
Rocket simulator
ADM-160B MALD (Miniature Air Cover) is a hybrid between a missile and a drone. It is launched from an aircraft, but does not carry a warhead. In essence, it is a “decoy”, the main task of which is to force enemy air defense systems to react to it by revealing the location of the battery.
MALD imitates a fighter plane, acts as a target or decoy. The product is equipped with a multi-frequency radar signature simulation system to realistically simulate almost any subsonic vehicle, from the stealthy F-117 to the strategic B-52.
The wings of the rocket are folded, which makes it compact. On launch, they deploy and the turbojet engine turns on. A GPS-enabled inertial navigation system maintains the MALD on the programmed course. The pilot can change it at any time – right up to the launch.
The length of the ammunition is 2.84 meters, weight – 115 kilograms, diameter – 40 centimeters. The flight range is up to 920 kilometers. One such product costs more than 300 thousand dollars, this “bait” is a rather expensive pleasure. Perhaps this explains the fact that Russian anti-aircraft guns relatively rarely encounter MALD. The Armed Forces keep the reserves transferred to them and use them only against the “thickest” targets.
The ADM-160B is compatible with various tactical and strategic aircraft of the US Air Force. Dummy targets are hung from standard brackets one at a time or several at a time and fired together (or at intervals) with the warheads, depending on the characteristics of the weapon.
As it turned out, MALD is also installed on Soviet-type front-line aircraft. Modified Su-24 bombers became their standard carrier in the VSU.
Undoubtedly, MALD is of great interest to the Russian defense industry. Certainly the debris collected by the captured teams is already being studied in secret research institutes.
Russia also uses decoys in airstrikes, but researching such a pattern is always useful. By the way, local specialists received hundreds of samples of NATO weapons, including infantry fighting vehicles M2 “Bradley” and CV-90, howitzers M777, wheeled tanks, armored vehicles, anti-tank missile systems and various small arms.
Anti-radar
ADM-160B MALD is not the only Western aviation ammunition in the VSU. As a rule, the decoys are used together with the anti-radar missiles HARM, which the Pentagon has been supplying since last summer.
AGM-88 KHARM is an air-launched missile designed to destroy radar stations of air defense systems. This is not a new weapon. The US added it to its arsenal as early as 1983 – replacing the AGM-45 “Shrike” used in Vietnam.
HARM is very reliable and accurate. The US Air Force used it to disable Libyan, Iraqi and Yugoslav radars.
The principle of operation is simple. The pilot fires a missile into the approximate area of the radar location where simulating false targets have previously been sent. Smart munitions respond to radar radiation and aim precisely at the target. It remembers the coordinates of the radar and is able to hit it even if the enemy turns everything off. For a guarantee, three to five rockets are fired.
AGM-88 is included in the ammunition of NATO tactical aircraft: A-6 “Intruder”, F-4 “Phantom”, F-16, F/A-18 “Hornet”, F-111 and “Panavia Tornado”. The Ukrainians launch these missiles from MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, modified by Western specialists: it is enough only to slightly change the brackets and avionics.
The range is 150 kilometers, which allows not to enter the air defense coverage area.
Long arm
Kiev modifies Su-24 front-line bombers to carry British-French Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles – several dozen have been delivered. Range – 300 kilometers, extremely low flight profile with terrain contouring. They approach the target at an extremely low altitude, inaccessible to long-range air defense systems. “Storm Shadow” can only be intercepted in the last part of its trajectory, when it gains height before the attack.
“We rarely meet them, they are a very difficult target,” says the operator of the Tor-M2 air defense system, called Staff. “The notch on the radar screen appears literally at the last moment, leaving very little time to react. However, we have invented a number of tricks that allow an effective fight against such targets”, he adds.
The flight mission for “Shadow” is preloaded. Each munition weighs 1.3 tons and is equipped with a 450-kilogram penetrating warhead. Speed - 1000 km/h. During the flight leg, an autonomous inertial system combined with a satellite and ground correction system leads to the target. At the last stage, the thermal imaging head is activated for homing.
In July, it became known that the Russian military had captured an intact Storm Shadow missile. Footage from the published video shows the nose fairing, warhead and fuselage to be completely intact.
This trophy can tell a lot about western technology. Particularly valuable are the inertial navigation unit, the satellite correction module, the target selection controller, the power and rocket battery controllers, the digital fuel supply circuit, as well as the design features of the engine shielding integrated into the rear of the engine nacelle. An in-depth study of all this can provide insight into how to counter Western strike weapons.
“Smart Bombs”
In addition to missiles, Kiev was also equipped with aerial bombs. More precisely, J-DAM kits for upgrading the free-falling high-explosive aerial bombs available to the Air Force. Each has wings attached to the midsection of the ordnance and a tail unit with controlled tail surfaces for maneuvering. There is also a computer with navigation equipment.
Bombs with a J-DAM package travel to the target using an inertial guidance system linked to a satellite receiver. The elevation is no more than 11 meters. Depending on the modification, the ammunition range is 40-70 kilometers. A modified Su-24 is used as a carrier.
In addition, France recently pledged a monthly supply of 50 Hammer guided bombs. They operate in the same way, striking targets 70 kilometers from the launch point. The mass of the warhead is 340 kilograms. It is likely that the same “crackers” will be reworked for them.
Guided bombs are not the biggest problem for the Russian anti-aircraft guns. According to them, initially, looking at the readings of the equipment, they could not understand what it was. The size is small, the horizontal velocity is low, and there is no thermal signature. But they quickly learned how to take them down. After all, a high-altitude, low-velocity target is an easy target for an anti-aircraft missile.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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2024-01-22 05:20:55
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