Many
readers liked «Pesticide for Super-Hornets» – lots of
hits on APA website. Now Grisha is asked another question by colleagues
in Asian
countries: «Sukhoi kills the Super-Hornet, but will the Sukhoi kill
the
F-35
JSF which comes soon after?»
This is a tricky
question.
F-35 is still in early development and many Sukhoi upgrades are yet to
come,
so we might use 2017 for a comparison year. Must make observation
though –
JSF is more «Strike» than «Fighter», and has slow, fat body and wing
design. More
like a pigeon than a raptor. It is designed to work with its big
brother F-22. The «Pigeon»
has holes in its armor that let missiles through.
This time, the Sukhoi
Su-35
has
the new Tikhomirov NIIP IRBIS-E ESA radar and can talk to earlier model
Su-30MK to pass target
coordinates – like Indian Air Force Su-30MKI talks to older MiG-21
and tells when to fire its missile [Editor: This is the TKS-2
intraflight network]. Ramjet Vympel R-77M «Adder» in service for
several
years with long range of about 160 km. Also, some new weapons – we
discuss these later.
F-35 in service
from 2015
and
Chuck finally understands penalty of having short arms and no punch,
so redoes AIM-120 AMRAAM into the «D» model, with range of 110 km and
a two-pulse motor – Americans have not yet solved ramjet drive like
Russia. Still,
the AIM-120D is a big improvement on old models – Americans then sell
old junk to Allies to fit
to Super Hornets. Not fit too many AIM-120D inside Pidgeon – some say
four,
others two in weapon bay. Cannot put more on pylons – all
stealth is then gone and Sukhoi kills Pigeon like a Super Hornet. Also
AIM-120
only have radar head [Editor: seeker]. Sukhoi have lots of shots and
choose seeker
head – mostly carry 8 mix R-77M with big centre tank.
We make the
discussion easy
– we use «DIED» kill-chain model: Detect, Identify,
Engage,
Destroy.
First, we
detect. We ask
our friends
at the Russian Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics
for the analysis of «Pigeon on Stick» radio-location
reflections. They ask a very good question: «Is
this US version or export
version?» I say US version – if you can kill
that model, export model easier to kill – much bigger radio-location
reflection. We match
the estimated radio-location reflection with IRBIS-E detection
performance in table:
|
Aspect
|
Radar
Cross Section [m2]
|
IRBIS-E
Detection Range [km]
|
Outside
AIM-120D Range?
|
|
Front
|
0.01
|
95
|
No
|
|
Side
|
0.1
|
150
|
Yes
|
|
Top
and Bottom
|
0.3
|
210
|
Yes
|
|
Rear
|
0.5
|
240
|
Yes
|
Physics colleagues
say many
glints
as Pigeon flies and turns. Need to fire R-77M outside AIM-120D range
so try to duck head-on shot. This is not so hard to do.
Radar
Cross Section measurement of JSF shape (US DoD).
Tactics
are important. On
fighter
sweep we fly line-abreast, put two Su-35 60 km then Su-30MK 40 km more
each side – see side radio reflections of Pidgeon and pass target
location
to shooter with best position.
Pigeon hard to
see from
front
on X-Band radio locator, but easy to spot on other bands. Australian
JORN [Editor: Jindalee HF band Over The Horizon Backscatter Radar] very
good to see stealth aircraft. Also, nice irony that Lockheed
Martin make stealth aircraft and radio locator to see stealth
aircraft. This one called «Silent
Sentry», it works using radio
reflection from TV and FM radio – very good over land at low
heights and out to sea about 200 km. Also «Surface
Wave Radio Locator»
work in HF band. Use Pigeon wingspan or body length to tune the radio
locator resonance – see very well over water to 400 km distance. Can
now put such a radio-location system on
a ship.
Old radio
locators now making a
comeback. Many low frequency [Editor: VHF band], like NNIIRT NEBO
series «Tall Rack», OBORONA
«Tall King»
and P-18-2
«Spoon Rest» see
stealth airplane at 10,000 meters as far as 250 km. Rosoboronexport
have on-line catalogue for these radio locators [1].
Even the Pigeon
radiates – it uses APG-81 «Low Probability of Interception (LPI)» radio
locator, but still makes energy pulses when it transmits. The Czechs
make the «Vera-E»
and the Ukrainians
makes the «Kolchuga»
passive radio-location systems – these track the
airplane from time-of-arrival of energy
pulses.
Worst part of
the Pigeon is
a very
hot engine – 160 Celsius hotter than standard combat jet engine
exhaust. It makes a
very bright star in the sky and long jet plume. Russia adapted space
technology for seeing ICBM launches, to air combat fighter. The OLS-35
[Editor: Infra-Red Search and Track Set] in
service now, much better versions planned in next decade. Today, we see
a standard fighter
at about 50 km, by 2017 new technology will see Pigeon at about 150 km.
Angle
only measurement, but if we fly wide fighter-sweeps and pass angles to
other fighters using the TKS-2 network, we can use trigonometry
calculations in software to find range. Also the OLS-35 is passive –
this is good.
So, Grisha
advises to
build
multi-spectral sensors in digital network to catch the Pigeon. Then
pass target location
to Sukhoi fighters so they can fly close enough, where on-board sensors
can detect Pidgeon.
Identifying target
type
is always
hard. Very bad to shoot airliner, but sometimes fighters hide under
body of big plane. So, we declare Air Defense Identification Zone
(ADIZ) like Americans have over Washington. For commerce airplane, pass
over SAM
sites to get finer look. Time short for intercept, so if see
airplane in ADIZ, shoot first - ask later.
Also,
use logic – if we see AWACs airplane then expect fighters in
airspace between AWACs and Sukhoi, divide sky up and use fine search
with radio locator and infra-red sensor.
Engage when
first detect.
R-77M fly for about 120 seconds out to about 160 km. Problem if glint
from Pigeon fade during missile flight, so expect low kill probability.
Keep guidance to last point if radio reflection show again. Send a two
missile package, one radar locator [Editor: seeker] and one infra-red
locator. Maybe
R-77M radar self guidance head makes the Pigeon turn to show its tail
feathers –
very bright spot for infra-red seeker. Also use imaging infra-red so
pass by flares to hit plane.
This table show
how close
R-77M get to lock on to Pigeon:
|
Aspect
|
Radar Cross Section
[m2]
|
R-77
Seeker Detection [km]
|
|
Front
|
0.01
|
3.7
|
|
Side
|
0.1
|
6.0
|
|
Top
and Bottom
|
0.3
|
7.4
|
|
Rear
|
0.5
|
13.0
|
Tikhomirov
NIIP Irbis-E Prototype (T-NIIP)
Sukhoi have
lots of fuel
and
can play «Cat-and-Mouse» like with Super Hornet. Look for
missile flare if Pigeon fire AIM-120D, turn and run, then come back.
Not all Sukhois need run, only those in reach of AIM-120D. Others
may get good shot as Pigeon open weapon bay, turn to fire. Eventually
Pigeon go home to roost, expose tail-feathers and make big
radio reflection and infra-red from jet pipe. This time make use
of a high Mach run, get close, fire several salvoes.
Perhaps Pigeon
soon runs
out
of missiles, then it is a good time for Sukhoi. Run in for kill with
R-73 or
guns. No Pigeon can ever out-fly Sukhoi in «knife fight».
The safe way to
destroy
the Pigeon is
to use superior endurance and aerodynamic performance to wait until
the Pigeon turns for home, then cook with salvoes of R-77M until well
done.
So, how about
Radio-Elektronnaya Borba [Editor: REB - Electronic Warfare]? Many in
West say Russian REB kit
crude. Some answers here. Some Sukhois use Israel REB boxes –
these test very good [Editor: specifically referring to Indian Su-30MKI
Flanker H].
Other Sukhoi and MiG
fighters use Russian
boxes. With
cheap computer chips and smart programs, Russian companies catch up
very fast, get technical lead in some areas like infrared detectors.
Grisha likes the clever
steerable Sorbstiya REB pod - this system borrowed from Backfire.
Much talk in Aviation Week about
high power
AESA
and high power microwave use as weapon. New IRBIS-E is biggest boy
on block and go head to head with little radio locator like APG-79 or
the APG-81. Big IRBIS-E antenna and 20 kiloWatts peak power fry the
Pigeon
in
short time. Also, we have some «specials». We put high power
microwave warhead on R-172 or R-37 (AA-13 Arrow) missile and fire at
infra-red return. Command
triggers narrow cone microwave or electro-pulse energy at Pigeon. Hope
Pidgeon pilot have rapid darkening welding helmet or may get quick
sun-tan. Russia has experimented for many years with EMP weapons [2].
Grisha thinks the Pigeon is harder to fry
than Super
Hornet, but new Sukhoi-35 have more performance, more missile shots,
more missile self guidance head types and more fuel. So, with good
tactics, the Sukhoi kills the
JSF,
not every time, just most times.
Final word, the new Raptorski come very
soon before
2017. Pigeon best stay home unless escorted by bigger brother.
PAK-FA Rendering by NPO
Saturn. Unlike the JSF, the PAK-FA is being designed with air
superiority performance as the primary consideration.
|
![Australia's First Online Journal Covering Air Power Issues [ISSN 1832-2433]](apa-analyses.png "Australia's First Online Journal Covering Air Power Issues [ISSN 1832-2433]")
