The war device of what is considered the only superpower seems to be setting the pace, since the F-35 has become the object of the decadence of the US defense industry, not least China which seems to have developed independently an electronic scan radar of the AESA type, able to intercept the new fighter.
The striking case occurred in the Black Sea, when a Russian aircraft approached a US Navy warship. The news did not seem to have a particular strategic importance, as it was designated as a disturbing action, but in reality the incident reserved a very different activity and the ultimate aim was to prove the new Russian capabilities in the field of electronic warfare .
In April, the missile launcher Donald Cook, sailing the neutral waters of the Black Sea, detected an approaching Su-24 fighter. The radar equipment for discovering and tracking the targets of the unit is the integrated Aegis combat system, from the shield that Jupiter forged for Mars. This uses electronic scanning antennas, whose processing is facilitated by powerful processors which are interlocked with all on-board sensors and associated weapon systems supplied to warships. The Aegis was developed with the intention of overcoming traditional radars and its capabilities are such that the surface units on which it is mounted are called Aegis units, such as the Arleigh Burke class destroyers and the Ticonderoga class cruisers.
As soon as the Su-24 was detected, the Aegis, with the AN / SPY1 radar, immediately sent the data to the VLS Mk 41 launchers of the SM2 Standard missiles, but suddenly, the system seems to have stopped working, all the screens have been turned off and the pointing and launch data have been lost.
Contrary to what was previously stated, the Russian aircraft was not kept at a distance from Donald Cook, but made the move to "jump" it, exactly on the bridge. And this for well 12 times, each time simulating an approach turn for the attack.
Official sources of the US Navy, have admitted that all attempts to bring the Aegis back online have failed, thus showing a limitation of the sophisticated equipment. In fact, it seems that the validity of the antiareo system finds its best application when it is coordinated with other units present in the same body of water. But the justification would be another: an innovative electronic warfare device called L175M Khibiny-M was mounted on the aircraft, which has different capacities, including self-defense and group defense. It is an electronic suppression complex that will equip all new Russian aircraft.
The US military experts reject this hypothesis, as it does not seem possible that a new product could have been adapted on an antiquated aircraft like the SU-24, but it is still evident that the Donald Cook remained vulnerable to the air attack. Following this incident, the unit docked in Romania, where it seems that 27 sailors have requested early leave. Unconfirmed news that appears to be an act of propaganda, like the Iranian declaration of being able to sink the American aircraft carrier, a symbol of power and projection of force.
The exercises of the Islamic Republic have targeted a fake aircraft carrier which they obviously managed to strike with ease. US satellite images have in fact photographed a kind of barge very similar to Nimitz but much smaller. Construction took place at the Gachin construction site near Bandar 'a' Abbas in the Persian Gulf. Launching missiles at a floating structure anchored to the seabed is simple, while it is quite another to attack a thousand-ton 100 warship, with maneuvering ability at a speed of thirty knots, fifty fighters on board and a naval battle group in his defense. The tactic for the attack is similar to those of the Russian 'Kirov' class units capable of swarming twenty "SS-N-19 Shipwreck" armored missiles weighing seven tons per carrier, but the implementation problem remains in place to approach a CVBG without being discovered by the Awacs and satellites.
On the contrary, the killing of a drone actually took place in Iranian airspace. It is a RQ-170 stealth and is probably the result of a cybernetic interference where a bistatic radar, that is the transmitter is separated from the receiver, has detected the aircraft in the only moment in which it is vulnerable: while it is communicating electronically with a satellite . The Russian anti-stealth equipment Avtobaza could have been the vehicle to achieve this success. The UAV remote automatic piloting system would therefore have been electronically passed under Iranian control and brought to the ground, where it will most likely become the object of study both by Iran and its allies.
The RQ-170 was promptly concealed from the electronic eyes of US satellites, certainly fearing that they will try to destroy it.
Giovanni Caprara
(in the photo a Su24 - DoD Fed Russian)
