The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II which is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather
stealth multirole fighters is undergoing final development and testing by the United States.
The pentagon began the F 35 program in 2001 with an aim to develop a cost effective replacement
for the u.s. military's F 15 fighters, F 16 and F 18 bombers and reconnaissance aircraft,
and A10 close air support warplanes.
Apart from United States,the primary customer and financial backer, the United Kingdom,
Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Norway and Denmark are also part of the program.
Many other nations like Japan and Israel are also deploying the fighters.
The nine major partner nations, including the U.S, plan to acquire over 3,000 F-35s
through 2035, which, if delivered will make the F-35 one of the most numerous jet fighters.
The fighter aircraft will be in service till 2050.
On 2 August 2016, the U.S. Air Force declared its first squadron of F-35A fighters combat-ready.
S 400 Triumph is an anti-aircraft weapon system developed by Russia's Almaz Central Design
bureau in the 1990s as an upgrade of the S 300 family.
it has been in service with the Russian armed forces since 2007.
It is designed to defend against aircrafts including 5th generation stealth fighters
,bombers, awacs, cruise missiles and ballistic missile.
It is considered one of the most power anti aircraft defense system in the world.
In this video Defense Updates analyze the outcome when F 35 is pitted against S 400
In a combat environment , F 35 has the following options to defeat S 400.
1. OUT RUN
2. OUT MANEUVER A MISSILE
3. STEALTH TO AVOID DETECTION
4. USE EW SUIT TO JAM S 400
5. LONG RANGE PREEMPTIVE STANDOFF STRIKE
We will analyze each of these one by one and rate the chances F 35 against S 400 on a scale of 5.
In past we have seen this tactic being applied successfully when in April 1986, SR-71 blackbird
outran SA2 Surface to Air Missile over Libya.
But in case of F 35 , the tactics will be useless since it has a top speed of only 1.6
mach and missiles deployed by s 400 have hypersonic speeds ranging from 6 Mach to 14 Mach.
For example, 40N6 missile has a speed of 14 Mach.
F 35 is not designed to be a great dogfighter and lacks agility when compared to fighters
like F 22 or SU 35.
The need for the small F 35 to carry a heavy range of internal engines, fuel and weapons
has resulted in what aviation experts labels a 'high wing loading'.
essentially, the wings are small in relation to its weight and this impedes maneuverability.
F 35 also has a sluggish rate of climb when compared to modern fighters.
The missile deployed by S 400 are not only guided by the system but also have homing
capabilities.
For example, 40N6 has active radar homing and 48N6DM has semi-active radar homing head.
These missile are very agile and F 35 will find it very had to out maneuver these missiles.
The ability to twist, turn and accelerate is a desperate — but vital — last-moment
component of countermeasures to modern missiles and F 35 falls short on that count.
The trump card of F 35 against any air defense
system is that , it is a stealthy aircraft.
But F 35's simplified airframe is far less of the 'shaped stealth' found in the F 22.
This implies a much greater reliance on radar-absorbing materials.
--Against X-band radars, it is only stealthy (low observable) from front and rear;
-- Against S-band radar, it is stealthy from narrow front aspect,
--Against L-band radar.
limited reduction is achieved from direct front
Overall F 35 is much easier to detect when compared to F 22 Raptor.
It also must be noted that , wherever the weapon bays are opened, the stealth profile
is greatly compromised.
S 400 have multiple radars which operate in different bands.
Apart from traditional radars, S 400 has radars that are capable of detecting stealthy aircraft.
The full list is radars are as follows:
* Almaz 92n6e Grave Stone engagement radar * Redundant niiip 91N6E big bird acquisition radar
* Lemz 96l6-1/96l6e acquisition radar
* 67N6 gamma de acquisition radars in L band; * 59N6 protivnik ge acquisition radars in L band;
* 1l119 Nebo SVU in the VHF band, and
* Multiband Nebo m (or Zebu M).
The Nebo SVN & Zebu M have a claimed capability against stealth aircraft.
Keeping in view the different aspects, F 35 will be vulnerable in a combat scenario.
All three variants of the F 35 carry Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars
with sophisticated electronic attack capabilities, including false targets, network attack, advanced
jamming and algorithm-packed data streams.
This system allows the F 35 to reach well-defended targets and suppress enemy radars that threaten
the F 35.
But S 400 has many features specifically designed to overcome countermeasures and stealth, such
as a larger, more powerful radar that is more resistant to jamming.
the main radar is a pulse-to-pulse agile frequency hopper, to maximize countermeasures resistance.
S 400 also has Topaz Kolchuga m, Krtp-91 Tamara / Trash can, and 85v6 Orion / vega emitter
locating systems.
The aim of these components is to engage emitting targets without emitting from the acquisition
radars, or if the acquisition radars have been jammed.
Hence, EM attack from F 35 will find it hard to disable S 400.
S 400 is designed to be mobile.
All system components are carried by self-propelled wheeled all-terrain chassis.
This means that the system can pop-up at different locations at different points in times.
It has an open system architecture with a high level of modularity, intended to permit
follow-on capability growth in the design.
The radar can be used independently of the missiles for command and control purposes.
So, just because the radar is there doesn't mean the entire system is there.
These aspects make it very unpredictable & difficult to target.
Even if detected, S 400 will be a very very tough nut to crack.
Just one S 400 system can control up to 72 launchers, with a maximum of 384 missiles.
This means that system has enough ammunition & targeting strength to take down a saturation
attack.Also an important aspect is that for aerodynamic target and ballistic targets,
the minimum engagement range is only 2 and 5 km respectively .
This means that the targets can be engaged till the last seconds and multiple times.
A separate independent air defense system 42S6 Morfey , is being developed by Russia's
Almaz-Antey corporation.
This system is designated as short-range air defense system, and will protect the S 400
from various threats at their terminal phases.
It will also act together with the mid-range S 350e Vityaz air defense systems.
This means the long range S 400 will be protected by medium range S 350e Vityaz & short range
42s6 Morfey system.
Derived from Tor M2 , Morfey has a range of 5 km or 3 miles.
It is reported to feature an omnidirectional cupola-type radar with active electronically
scanned array.
Morfey is designed to shoot down precision guided weapons like the AGM 86 ALCM or Tomahawk
cruise missile day and night, in bad weather and jamming situation.
It can detect targets while on the move.
S 400 is not just a standalone system, but a tightly integrated system which has been
very purposefully designed.
Even a dozen of F 35 may find it difficult to take out a single S 400 system.
As per our analysis, F 35 will find it difficult to operate in areas protected by S 400.
This means the not only us but the partner nations will find it hard to gain air supremacy,
which is vital in modern conflicts.
Another important aspect is that several countries which are rival to US like China are getting
this system from Russia.
S 400 will have to be accepted as a game changer
and will act a frontline anti access and area denial system in future combats.
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