The countermeasures of NATO on Russian S-300

The antiaircraft batteries will, almost certainly, be placed to protect the nuclear assets to prevent preventive attacks by NATO and Israel. But it is said that the S-300 is able to suppress the threat of an air strike.

The parallel with the US Patriot is a winner, as the Russian defense system is more advanced especially in the way it is launched. In fact, the missile leaves the silos that contain it, called PLC, vertically. This allows a faster response to the denial of airspace than the Patriot, which must rotate on the launcher in the direction of the target before being jetted obliquely, and this generates a considerable waste of time. So the S-300 can be placed in a confined space, while the US needs open areas. Furthermore, the Russian anti-aircraft system does not need maintenance as it remains sealed in its TKP, ie the conveyor and container, until use.

The signals emitted by a search and capture radar are waves that spread laterally, called petals, so to identify the position of the issuing station, the enemy tries to intercept the lateral lobes of the radio emission in such a way as to classify frequency and frequency. mode. The technical solution adopted by the Russian technicians was to minimize the lateral lobes, but also to reduce the noise sources and suppress the doppler effect of the launcher. The S-300 uses anti-jamming lines of communication through the automatic synchronization mode of the frequencies, which are conveyed to a single command and control station. This makes it particularly effective in monitoring airspace and significantly lowering the enemy's chances of discovery.

The intercept of the hostile aircraft takes place with a triangulation of two radars and the azimuth angle of approach of the target. By collecting this data it is possible to determine the coordinates of the raider and launch the missile that will engage the aircraft, or a cruise, at a speed equal to six times that of the sound with a high accuracy to the target. The S-300 is transported on wheeled or tracked vehicles, followed by auxiliary equipment and warning systems and can be equipped with active or semi-active warheads.

The weak points of the weapon system are two: the first is that its structure is very cumbersome; the second is common to all anti-aircraft batteries. Radio waves propagate in a straight line and this prevents the detection of targets that fly low, 30-40 meters from the ground, so an aircraft raid could approach up to a few tens of kilometers from the missile installation before being hooked by the radar of search, and in this case the raider would have the possibility to destroy the anti-aircraft station.

The S-300 can partly obviate this unfavorable condition, in fact it is equipped with a suspension antenna to expand its search range, but it is 25 meters high, so it becomes visible at a greater distance than its initial structure.

All these features would make the S-300 the best system in the world making it invincible. But maybe it is not, in fact it has two fearsome opponents: the first is the RC-135, an aircraft based on the Boeing 707, configured for SIGINT missions. The technology at its disposal allows it to detect the lateral radio waves emitted by anti-aircraft batteries, and to recognize where they start from and the system that is transmitting them. In this way he is able to suggest the route to avoid the raiders being intercepted. The fighter-bombers will be able to pass in a corridor without being hooked and without the need to suppress the anti-aircraft defense. Another function of the RC-135, as well as of the Orion and the EC-130H, is to disturb the opposing radio emissions.

But the main enemy of the S-300 is the EA-18G Growler. The aircraft derived from the F / A-18F Super Hornet, is enabled for electronic noise with the creation of wavy lines and bands and continuous electrical discharges that generate indistinguishable crackles on enemy radar screens. Basically, the radar operator is not able to read what is happening on the monitor, as the software returns images and sounds so confused that it can not program any defensive launches.

The Growler is the best aerial platform for electronic warfare and therefore is able to blind any search radar, target acquisition and shooting control. The suppression of the air defense stations is then entrusted to the F-16CJ in a wild weasel configuration, ie armed with the AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile. This is guided by the INS which directs it towards the radio emission source, therefore its accuracy at the target is absolute. A defensive technique adopted by the operator on the ground is to turn off the wave emitter system, but this would allow the raiders to pass the defenses unharmed. The HARM, however, has a software that remembers the last known position of the radio emission and even if it should be deactivated, the missile would continue towards the stored coordinates.

There are other ways to suppress an aerial defense site blinded by electronic disturbances, such as Tomahawk or intelligent bombs, but also with an Apache-coordinated attack, as happened in the Desert Storm operation where they dropped Hellfire-led missiles at the stations SAM are enemies. In particular, rotating wing aircraft are particularly suited to this type of mission, as they can fly at a very low level, below that of radar detection, adding this peculiarity to the Growler or RC-135 disorder.

In conclusion, the S-300 or even the S-400, can complicate a mission to suppress air defenses, but will not make it impossible.

Giovanni Caprara

Source: My future America, interview with Israeli Defense Minister Mosche Ya'alon

(photo: MoD Russian Federation / US DoD)