Russia's National Air Defence System

ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System

 AC  A CCESS DE 

Ted enormous funds in beefing

HE RUSSIAN military has invest-

up national air defences, deploying new fighters and state-of-t state-of-the-art he-art ground-based ground-b ased air defence (GBAD) systems. These are used in reliable, reinforced defensive ‘belts’ employing long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and sophisticated early warning radars, integrated through highly automated command and control (C2) facilities at regiment and division level. That the Russians have come close to being on military par with the US in recent years was articulated for the first time in public in mid-September by General

66

JANUARY 2016 #334

Frank Gorenc, Commander of US Air Forces in Europe. He noted that Russia is closing the capability gap and shrinking the advantage the US military has had in the air since the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. He said advances were “not only with respect to the aircraft they’re producing, but more alarmingly their ability to create anti-access/ area denied [A2/AD] zones, a challenge that we’re all going to face and that we’re going to have to train to”. Gorenc has also stated that the military build-up is a direct consequence of the 2008 war

 

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• • • • •

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IED 

FORTIFYING PUTIN'S SKIES 

assesses Russia’s comprehensive national air  air defence defence system and likely future likely  future developments as advanced new  new technologies technologies are introduced. Alexander Mladenov

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ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System

between Russia and Georgia, since after its conclusion Russia invested heavily in modernising its air arm. All strategically important A2/ AD zones in the Russian air and missile defence system have been reinforced with multiple air defence layers comprising fighters flying co-ordinated interceptions at longer ranges – and long, medium and close-range SAM systems – which would be difficult for US and allied strike aircraft to penetrate. Since GBAD systems are generally cheaper than fighter aircraft, they are much more available. General Gorenc has highlighted two zones in the European part of Russia that are saturated with GBAD hardware. The first extends extends over the Crimean peninsula (annexed by Russia in April 2014) and the second covers the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic coast. Speaking about the latter, he noted that some of the SAMs in Kaliningrad have the range to hit targets over Poland – in other words, in NATO airspace.

Rapid GBAD Development A rapid development of Russian air and missile defence began in the late 2000s, driven primarily by global military rivalry with the US and other NATO countries. Major General Kirill Makarov, then Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force’s Aerospace Forces Command, openly admitted in April 2015 that the potential threat originating from a global strike [that could be launched by the US military] has been the chief reason for strengthening national air and missile defence since 2006. He claimed the US cruise

The S-400’s four-round vertical launchers can fire several types of missiles for engaging targets at short, medium, long and ultra-long ranges. This enables regimental commanders to select the most appropriate missile for a greater chance of a kill.  Andrey Zinc huk via author 

Left: The Russian Land Forces’ main long-range weapon is the S-400V4. It uses Left: The two types of missiles for medium and ultra-long ranges and is said to be able to counter so-called aerodynamic targets (fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and UAVs) as well as intermediate/short-range ballistic missiles on their images by by author author unless unless stated stated trajectory and in the terminal phase of flight.  All images Below: The S-350 Vityaz system boasts a 360-degree multi-target engagement capability and has been tailor-made for countering massed air strikes. The highly automated radar boasts a rapid reaction capability for detecting, tracking and engaging air targets at ranges from 164ft to 98,400ft (50 to 30,000m).

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‘Moscow is the primary air defence focus and, following a long-established tradition, all new  systems are first deploy deployed ed to defen defend d the city. city.’’

Gap-filling MiG-31 The MiG-31 Foxhound is the RuASF’s primary air defence weapon over the remote northern territories and regions of the Far East that lack defensive SAM ‘bubbles’. The active fleet of around 130 Foxhounds includes 76 life-extended, upgraded MiG-31BM/BSM aircraft. In late 2015 the Foxhound equipped nine frontline squadrons, including one assigned to the Russian Naval Aviation branch, stationed at Yelizovo in Kamchatka Peninsula, and one instructor/research unit. The four MiG-31 squadrons stationed in the Central Military District, from the 712th IAP at Kansk and the 764th IAP at Perm-Bol’shoe Savino, are regarded as the RuASF’s primary rapidly deployable air defence assets. They are tasked with defence of the huge far northern region and practise operations from forward operating bases beyond the Arctic Circle,

including Rogachevo and Vorkuta. These operations can be reinforced by Strategic Command North’s sole MiG-31BM squadron, from the 98th SAP,, stationed at Monchegorsk on the SAP Kola Peninsula. The MiG-31BM/BSM upgrade will eventually be applied to all the Foxhounds in active service, with the first taken on strength in 2008 and the last expected to roll out in 2019. The upgraded Foxhound is claimed to have intercept capability against low-observable manned and unmanned strike and reconnaissance aircraft flying at subsonic and supersonic speeds. Then there are the low-flying cruise missiles – and even hypersonic vehicles flying at speeds up to Mach 6 and altitudes up to 82,000ft (25,000m). The upgrade focuses on introducing the vastly improved TikhomirovNIIP S-800AM Zaslon-AM passive

electronically-scanned phased-array radar with superior detection and tracking performance and enhanced jamming resistance. With this radar the Foxhound’s maximum detection range is extended to 130nm (240km) for head-on encounters against large tactical fighters flying at medium and high altitudes. The MiG-31BM’s new  Arrow  w ) long-range air-toR-37M (AA-13 Arro air missile (AAM) is set for service-wide introduction in late 2015 or early 2016. It has an active radar radar seeker and longer range than its R-33 predecessor, reaching 110nm (200km) when launched against high-altitude targets in head-on engagements. Meanwhile, the MiG-31BM’s arsenal has been improved with the R-77 (AA-12 Adder ) active radar-guided BVR and heat-seeking R-73 within visual range AAMs, giving it much increased lethality against manoeuvring targets. Tactical data presenta-

This well worn MIG-31 serves with the sole Foxhound squadron assigned to Russian Naval Aviation, stationed at Yelizovo in Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MoD via author 

tion in the pilot and weapons system operator (WSO) cockpits is also improved, while new jam-resistant data links improve the Foxhound’s capability in autonomous group intercept operations. The most effective method of employing the Foxhound is in so-called semi-autonomous group missions, with target hand-offs from groundcontrolled intercept (GCI) stations or AEW&C aircraft. Fully autonomous group tactics are applicable in areas with huge gaps in radar coverage or no radar coverage at all. A ‘seek and destroy’ method, it would be especially useful against mass bomber and cruise missile attacks in the extreme northern territories. A four-ship flight of MiG-31s could perform line-abreast sweeps of a vast swathe of territory using their own radars; each Foxhound covering a sector up to 140 degrees wide in the horizontal plane, equal to 110nm (200km) across. With the fourship’s radars set in a co-ordinated search mode pattern, the formation could provide radar coverage across a front 377 to 430nm (700 to 800km) wide, searching for targets flying from ground level up to 82,000ft (25,000m). Acting as the mission commander, the lead MiG-31 can receive target information from the other three aircraft via secure data link. Using Foxhound’s advanced data, a commander could co-ordinate sweeps made by other fighter groups operating in the same area, perform target hand-off from one aircraft to another in his group that is better positioned to attack or launch missiles at the most threatening targets encountered during the sweep. 

missile inventory comprises 8,000 weapons, 6,000 of which can be fitted with nuclear warheads. He also said Moscow’s layered air defence grants 99%-effective protection against air attack – thanks to the deployment of new-generation SAM systems with four air defence regiments around the capital, each equipped with two S-400 (SA-21 Growler ) long-range anti-aircraft/anti-ballistic missile systems and a single S-300PM-2 (SA-20 Gargoyle) system. Moscow is the primary air defence

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ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System

will be to counter possible attacks by cruise missiles launched from bombers approaching over the North Pole and directed towards Moscow and other strategic targets deep inside Russia.

Principal A2/AD zones Most of the RuASF’s GBAD and fighter assets are held within some ten principal A2/AD zones, with three more very important zones protected by RuN GBAD and fighter units. Each of the 45 SAM-equipped air defence regiments (ADRs) controls between three and five primary systems, or fire units, with multiple target engagement capability, each of which includes a truck-mounted C2 post, one targeting and two search radars and eight to 12 missile launchers. The combined RuASF/ RuN SAM inventory currently numbers 108 active systems. The largest A2/AD zone surrounds Moscow and extends into the so-called Central Industrial Region (CIR). Other regions with important military and industrial facilities in the European part of Russia include St Petersburg, Kaliningrad and the Cola Peninsula. There is a cluster of zones in central Russia (with separate A2/AD zones around Samara, Engles and Yekaterinburg), Yekat erinburg), Siberia (Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk), southern Russia (Rostov-on-Don, Novorosiisk, Krasnodar and the independent state of Abkhazia) and the Crimean peninsula. The Russian Far East’s major A2/AD zones are around the regional capital, Vladivostok, the

 Above: A salvo launch of two S-300PM-2 (SA-20 Gargoyle  Above: A Gargoyle)) missiles – with a maximum engagement range of 110nm (200km) – during a large-scale exercise at the Ashuluk range near Astrakhan in southern Russia.  Andrey Zi nchuk via author 

Recapitalisation drive THE RuASF controls most of the national air and missile defence system. It is in the midst of a mass deployment of new-generation SAM systems with multi-target engagement capabilities – and an array of sophisticated 3D air surveillance radars with ‘anti-stealth’ properties, augmented by long-range passive aircraft detection and tracking systems, long-range, high-power microwave (HPM) jammers and highly automated C2 facilities. The eventual aim of this expensive and ambitious programme is to establish an integrated air and missile

munitions. The Russian air and missile defence system is currently said to be capable of countering low radar crosssection (RCS) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and long-range air- and sealaunched cruise missiles. RuASFand Russian Navy (RuN) GBAD arrays are grouped into 14 air defence divisions (ADDs), most of which are subordinated to the four territorial air and air defence armies assigned to the existing Military Districts (strategic-level territorial commands). There is also at least one ADD assigned to Strategic Military Command North, established

maintained at 45 regiments, including seven inherited from the Russian Land Forces (RuLF) in 2007 and equipped with S-300V (SA-12 Gladiator/Giant) and Buk-M2 (SA-11 Gadfly) mobile GBAD systems. Five of the SAM regiments assigned to the national air and defence system are RuN. The early warning forces have a total of 18 regiments equipped with long-range 3D air surveillance radars, three of which are RuN assets. The GBAD integrates integrates early warning radars, command posts and SAM systems via the highly automated Baikal-1M C2 system, used at the ADD

warning radars in its zone of responsibility and neighbouring zones; it then applies the further processing required for decision-making. Based on the ‘big picture’ and threats identify, the commanding officer conducts risk assessment and target distribution among the deployed SAM regiments to provide the best engagement conditions. The system can handle handle up to 500 air targets and feed targeting data to 24 SAM systems and three fighter regiments. The fighter assets in each of the four air and air defence armies, and Stra-

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‘The Russian air and missile defence system is currently said to be capable of countering countering low radar crosscros s section (RCS  section (RCS)) un unman manned ned air veh vehicles icles (UA (UAVs Vs)) and lon long-ran g-range ge air air-- and sea-la sea-launc unched hed cruis cruise e missi missiles. les.’’

 Above: The  Above:  The Nebo-M 55Zh6M is a sophisticated ‘anti-stealth’ radar system equipping Russian GBAD units. It has an array of three truck-mounted radars using sensor fusion technology for providing multi-band detection capability. The main VHF sys-  tem is complemented by two additional modules that work in the L- and S-bands. Right: Russian Right:  Russian long-range SAM systems, such as the S-300, acquire their targets with their own radar after handover from the control post. Crews then perform an ID check, select the appropriate missile, monitor its pre-launch preparation, lock on to the target, fire and guide the missile until its own guid-  ance system takes over in the terminal phase of flight. Below: The Below:  The Russian military uses the Igla heat-seeking MANPAD as a wide-  spread, affordable and effective system for battlefield air defence.  Andrey  Zinchuk via author 

In peacetime, each fighter regiment holds a four-aircraft flight on quick reaction alert (QRA) duty for homeland air policing and air defence. Russian Navy fighter assets in the national air and missile defence system include one Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and one Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound squadron and a two-squadron shipborne regiment equipped with the Su-33, to be complemented in the foreseeable future by another twosquadron regiment flying the single-/ twin-seat Mikoyan MiG-29KR/KUBR Fulcrum.

industrial centres at Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur and the remote Kamchatka Peninsula. The military is establishing bases in the frozen north, beyond the Arctic Circle. These will have an integral GBAD element comprising S-400 and Pantsir-S1 SAM systems. systems. The first S-400 S-400 is expected to be deployed to Nova Zemlya island early in 2016, while the Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound)) has already been Greyhound deployed to the new base on Kotelniy Island in the deep Arctic. Together with the adjacent adja cent CIR – an area stretching from the Belarusian border in the west to the city of Vladimir in the east, and from Tula in the south to Yaroslavl in the north – the Moscow A2/ AD zone is packed with the most modern and capable anti-air and anti-missile assets in Russia. They are grouped into three air defence divisions (for a total of 12 SAM regiments and three early warning radar regiments), complemented by a dedicated missile defence division. Two fighter regiments support the MoscowCIR A2/AD zone’s GBAD element, stationed at Kursk-Khalino and Khotilovo; the former controls two MiG-29SMT/UBT squadrons and the latter two MiG-31BM/BSM squadrons and a Su-27 unit. An Su-27SM squadron is planned to be stationed at Bobruysk or Baranovichi airfield in Belarus during 2016 in a bid to further strengthen the outer layer of the Moscow-CIR air defence belt; the arrangement is yet to be agreed with the Belarus authorities. The Moscow-CIR

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ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System

air defence zone can also use the MiG-31BM/BSM instructor/ research fighter squadron at Savastleika, northeast northeas t of the city. Russia’s second-largest city, St Petersburg, is another well defended A2/AD zone, covered by an ADD that controls two S-300PS/PM-2 SAM regiments and one equipped with the S-300V and Buk-M2. Assets protecting the zone also include the 159th istrebitel’nyy aviapolk (IAP, fighter regiment) stationed at Besovets airfield and comprising two Su-27/Su-30M2 squadrons, one of which is expected to convert to the new Su-35S in 2016.

The 'bubble' The Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, was established last December as the latest A2/ AD zone. Its air defence ‘bubble’ is provided by an ADD and a two-squadron fighter regiment, the 37th IAP, equipped with more than 30 Su-27/27SM and Su-30M2 long-range fighters and stationed at Belbek airfield near Sevastopol. The Su-27SM3 and Su-30M2 jets of the two-squadron 3rd Guards IAP, stationed at Krymsk in mainland Russia, close to Crimea, can be deployed for the air defence of the peninsula if required. An Su-30SM squadron (building to an eventual strength of 12 aircraft) with the 43rd otdel’nyy morsky shturmovoy aviapolk (OMShAP (OMS hAP,, independent maritime attack air regiment) at Saki in Crimea is also

available to the A2/AD zone. The GBAD element of Crimea’s A2/AD zone includes two SAM regiments and an early warning radar surveillance regiment. The 12th ZRP (SAM regiment), equipped with three obsolete S-300PS systems (SA-10B Grumble), is stationed close to the strategic city of Sevastopol, home base of the Black Sea Fleet. Flee t. The second, the 18th ZRP – stationed at Gvardeyskoye in the peninsula’s geographic centre – is equipped with three much more capable S-300PM-2 systems with a maximum engagement range of 110nm (200km) when fired against high-altitude targets. Pantsir-S1 close-in GBAD systems protect the SAM batteries. Kaliningrad’s A2/AD zone encompasses the entire Kaliningrad Oblast, a territory isolated from the rest of Russia. Encircled by NATO NAT O member states Poland P oland and Lithuania, the exclave is the most heavily militarised area in Russia, with the densest military infrastructure in Europe, and includes the largest Baltic Fleet base. The RuN provides the zone’s GBAD assets, comprising the 183rd ZRP SAM regiment, equipped with two S-400 Triumph systems for a total of 16 launchers plus an S-300PM-2 Favourite system with 12 launchers. The S-400s are stationed at Gvardeysk in the exclave’s centre. They are scheduled to be equipped with the 40NE6 ultra-long-range

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missile, perhaps from early 2016, enabling them to engage high-altitude targets across more than half of Poland’s airspace, all of Lithuania’s, half of Latvia’s and in a wide zone over the Baltic. The S-400 and S-300PM-2 systems forming the Kaliningrad A2/AD zone are capable of simultaneously engaging 26 air and ballistic missile-type targets. The RuN also supplies the Kaliningrad A2/AD zone’s fighter assets – a single Su-27 squadron at Chkalovsk airfield, which is scheduled to convert to the much more capable Su-30SM. The Kola Peninsula, home of Russia’s Northern Fleet with its ballistic missile-armed nuclear submarines, has an A2/AD zone with three RuN SAM regiments, one of which is equipped with the S-400 and S-300PM-2 and the other two with S-300PM-2 and S-300PS systems. The air defence bubble over the region’s important military installations is enhanced by a fighter force comprising one MiG-31BM squadron from the RuASF’s 98th SAP at Monchegorsk and the Su-33s of the Navy’s two-squadron 279th korabel’nyy istrebitel’nyy aviapolk (KIAP, shipborne fighter regiment) at Severomorsk-3 near Murmansk (two MiG-29KR/KUBR squadrons of a newly formed regiment will join them in early 2016). The Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumph is a new-generation mobile SAM system developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was formally formally

 Above: An Su-27 from the 159th IAP  Above: An at Besovets, St Petersburg, deployed to Rogachevo airfield on Novaya Zem-  lya Island, far inside the Polar Circle. This was the first deployment to the is-  land as part of a large-scale exercise of Russian forces in September 2012.  Andrey Zinchuk a rchive via aut hor  Right: This Right:  This non-upgraded Su-27 Flanker serves with the 159th IAP, a fighter regiment stationed at Besovets and tasked with the air defence of St Petersburg. The squadrons work in partnership with four SAM regiments.  Andrey Zinchuk a rchive via aut hor  Left: A Left:  A self-propelled launcher for the S-400 SAM. The 92N6E target engagement radar, dubbed  Grave  Grave Stone by NATO, can be seen behind it.  Almaz Ante y via author 

Russian Land Forces air defence The RuLF’s air defence system provides all-altitude protection to deployed units at all levels from brigade and battalion to division and army. The air defence branch is equipped

low-level GBAD assets including the Tor-M1 To r-M1 and -M2 (SA-15 Gauntlet ), ), Strela-10M (SA-13 Gopher ) and Osa-AKM (SA-8 Gecko Gecko)) SAMs, the Tunguska-M SAM/AAA system

targets at up to 54nm (100km) range. A much larger missile, dubbed ‘40N6’ and fired from twinround launchers, has a maximum speed equating to Mach 7.4 and its

up to 200 targets and engage 24 simultaneously, at altitudes between 82,000ft and 98,400ft (25,000m and 30,000m); two missiles can be guided to each target. The system

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ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System

 Above: The MiG-31 Foxhound,  Above: The powered by two Aviadvigatel D-30F-6 turbofans, each rated at 152.06kN (34,171lb st) with afterburner, is a huge, heavyweight fighter with restricted manoeuvrability, optimised for intercepting cruise missiles and low-level strike aircraft. Left: The Left:  The Krasukha-4 is a high-power digital radio-frequency jamming system primarily intended for the air defence coverage of military sites. It generates radar jamming waves which disrupt the radars of strike and reconnaissance aircraft. Right: No Right:  No fewer than 70 non-upgraded or so-called ‘vanilla’ Su-27s equip five squadrons tasked with QRA duty within the integrated air and missile defence system, controlled by the RuASF.  Andrey Zinchuk a rchive via aut hor 

commissioned into RuASF service in April 2007, with the first fire unit of the 606th Guards ZRP. Stationed in positions near the city of Elektrostal, 22nm (40km) east of Moscow, it was placed on QRA duty in August that year.

for the former, and 16,000ft and 99,000ft (5,000m and 30,000m) for the latter. latter. The M96-series missiles are highly manoeuvrable in the terminal phase of flight, better enabling a direct hit, an important consideration against ballistic missiles.

(SARH) modes. This enables the 40N6E to perform independent target search after launch (using inertial guidance in the initial and mid phases of flight) when engaging targets at extremely long ranges, its seeker working in the

ten targets simultaneously with 20 missiles, fired in salvoes of two against each target for improved kill probability. probability. The transition transition from travel mode to launch-ready state is just five to ten minutes. By 2012, the RuASF had two

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‘During relocation the vehicle columns are protected from air attack by Pantsir-S1  self-propel  selfpropelled led SAM/ SAM/AAA AAA systems. systems.’’

New radars Russian early warning and air surveillance capabilities are being upgraded through the introduction of 3D radars and the Fundament-2 data processing facility, which fuses radar data gathered by numerous heads and feeds it to ADD and fighter regiment C2 facilities. The Nebo-U is the new radar type and by late 2014 as many as nine units were operationa operational.l. It is set to become the backbone of the RuASF’s air surveillance system. The giant Nebo-U mobile VHF radar has a 100ft-wide (30m) antenna with active electronic scanning array. Its maximum highaltitude detection range is 216nm (400km), while at low-altitudes (1,600ft [500m]) it can see targets at up to 38nm 38nm (70km). A derivative of Nebo-U, Nebo-M (55Zh6M), has been ordered to re-equip some GBAD units. A mobile system mounted on four trucks, it features two additional active scanning array modules mounted on individual chassis and integrated with the core VHF system (dubbed RLM-M) to provide a multi-band detection capability through sensor fusion. The first of these modules works in the decametric wavelength (L-band) and is dubbed RLM-D. The second works in the centimetric wavelength (S-band) and is known as RLM-S; the system also has an IFF interrogator, installed on the command truck. Nebo-M’s maximum maximum detection range against high-altitude targets extends to 324nm (600km). 

grouped in nine SAM regiments, with an inventory of 19 targeting radars and 159 launchers. In April, the Russian GBAD system took on strength its ninth air defence regiment equipped with the SA-21 Growler . Based

field three S-400 firing units, with an inventory of three targeting radars and 24 launchers, capable of simultaneously engaging 30 targets. It is tasked with air defence of the large Pacific Fleet base at Vilychinsk, which houses

In March, another RuN SAM regiment, the 531st ZRP at Polyarny in the Kola Peninsula, was reported to have been re-equipped with the S-400 and put on QRA duty. In September a tenth SAM regiment, the 590th ZRP at Novosibirsk,

ment at Nova Zemlya island, deep inside Russia’s Arctic territories, late this year or early in 2016. Russia’s State Armament Programme 2020 foresees the procurement of a total of 56 S-400 systems (sufficient for 24

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ANALYSIS

Russia's National Air Defence System – aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles and stand-off precision-guided weapons that have penetrated the S-400’s defensive ‘umbrella’ to attack the launch position or defended target. Each S-400 regiment typically has an integral fire unit equipped with six Pantsir-S1 systems.

Improved airborne early warning

 Above: The Buk-M2 (SA-11 Gadfly  Above: The Gadfly)) medium-range SAM is capable of hitting fighter-size targets at up to 23nm (42km) range at high altitude. The system equips army regiments that are closely integrated into the structure of tank and mechanised armoured divisions.

The RuASF has a useful radar coverage gap-filling capability through the Beriev A-50 and A-50U Mainstay  airborne  airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft based at Ivanovo, north of Moscow. Equipped with the 1980s-vintage 360-degree Shmel-M centimetre wavelength radar system, the A-50 is officially capable of detecting bomber- and transport-sized aircraft at high altitude at 350nm (650km) and fighters at 124nm (230km) at low altitude – and 162nm 16 2nm (300km) when flying high. Cruise missiles with with an RCS of 1m2 (10.76sq (10.76sq ft) f t) can be detected detecte d at up to 116nm (215km). The Shmel-M system is said to be capable of tracking 140 targets while its fighter controllers manage up to 12 interceptors, issuing data-linked targeting information or voice commands to guide them onto assigned targets. The upgraded A-50U has a more powerful radar for operation against a greatly expanded target set, including low-flying and hovering helicopters as well as low-RCS crewed aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs; it also works reliably under dense jamming. In addition, more powerful processors and new software enable detection and tracking of

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‘To reduce their vulnerability, modern systems ‘To sys tems are designed for high mobility, swiftly changing position,  stopping,  stopp ing, setting up to fire, firin firing g and then rapid rapidly ly disap disappearin pearing g if imm imminen inentt enem enemyy attacks are expect expected. ed.’’

targets flying tail-on relative to the A-50U at much greater ranges than was previously possible. A new jam-proof communication suite has turned the enhanced Mainstay into a complete battle management system. Operating within the national air defence system, the A-50 and A-50U mainly fill gaps in radar coverage, operating over remote areas that lack reliable groundbased radar coverage and controlling MiG-31, Su-27, Su-30 and Su-35S long-range interceptors. The A-50U can also downlink processed targeting information to the S-300PM-2 and S-400 SAM systems, a particularly useful feature when countering mass raids at low and ultra-low level. According to Russian sources, a S-300PM-2 receiving targeting information from an A-50U successfully engaged cruise missiles at ultra-low level over ranges exceeding 22nm (40km). The first A-50U is reported to have attained operational capability in February Febru ary 2012 and in late 2015 the RuASF had three in active service (another is expected to be taken on strength in early 2016).

ECM and passive detection Russia’s GBAD assets are also set to have a comprehensiv comprehensive e

tems of tactical aircraft and could also disrupt the radar systems of the E-3 AWACS and E-2 Hawkeye. The Russian electronic attack (EA) effort is aimed at reducing the capabilities of entire strike packages – rendering them more vulnerable to SAM arrays and the RuASF’s long-legged interceptors – by downgrading or closing down their sophisticated weapons control and communication systems. Since the late 1990s the Russian military has also been working to master the comprehensive use of various types of GPS jammer, intended to disrupt aircraft navigation and the guidance systems of the GPS/INS stand-off munitions widely employed by the West. Passive radio-frequency detection and tracking systems, exploiting the active emissions of air targets entering an A2/AD zone, also deliver a weighty operational advantage when integrated with the other early warning sensors of the wide-area GBAD assets. Anti-radar missiles cannot target the new-generation passive detection systems now being fielded, including the KRET Moskva-1 and Defensive Systems Avtobasa-M, since they are emission-free. These systems detect air targets at long ranges and deliver reasonable tracking and position data. In principle, emission control

16 military tactical data exchange network to transfer tactical information during combat missions. Only the stealthy F-22 features a receive-only data link capability, but it is likely to gain an emitting capability in future. All intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and attack UAVs constantly emit radio frequency energy because they rely on sophisticated two-way data links to receive control inputs and downlink data gathered by their sensor packages in near-real time. The large Russian SAM systems, with their truck-mounted C2 posts, search and targeting radars and cluster of launchers gathered at a firing position, would be easily detectable by enemy ELINT sensors, making them vulnerable to anti-radar missiles. To reduce their vulnerability, modern systems are designed for high mobility, stopping, setting up to fire, firing and then rapidly disappearing. An array of decoys protects SAMs deployed in permanent positions. These emit signals similar to those of the system’s radars and are designed to attract anti-radar missiles. The new long-range SAM positions are also protected by the rapid-reaction, close-in Panstir-S1 – with the Morfey SAM system. The SAM regiments also use

Future GBAD developments Based on analysis of US military operations since Desert Storm in 1991, 199 1, Russian air defence exper ts agree that future high-intensity conflicts will begin with mass air strikes. High-ranking Russian officials expressed concern that, the US is spending considerable amounts of money in a bid to gain a significant edge in its offensive capabilities through the fielding of space-based strike assets. As Maj Gen Vik tor Gumenniy, head of what was then the Russian Air Force’s Air and Missile Defence Branch, noted in April 2013, the main directions for the development of the GBAD system required capabilities to counter modern and prospective future aircraft and missiles, including those attacking from space.

‘GBAD system required capabilities to counter modern and prospective future aircraft and missiles, including those attacking from space.’  Russian military officials and the defence media suggest that US capability to mount devastating