How many air defense systems do we have? In 2007, the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system entered service with the anti-aircraft missile forces that are part of the Russian Air Force. The S-400 air defense system is an evolutionary development of the S-300P family, initially it had the designation S-300PM3. The new designation was assigned on the basis of opportunistic considerations: in this way the military-political leadership tried to demonstrate that our country is really "getting up from its knees" and is capable of independently creating modern air defense systems without looking back at Soviet developments. At the same time, the adoption of the S-400 air defense system into service was accompanied by a powerful PR campaign organized in the Russian media. In fact, the S-400 has a lot in common with the S-300PM2 air defense system, the development of which began in the late 1980s.
Anti-aircraft missile system S-400
At the first stage, the main advantage of the S-400 over the systems of previous modifications was a higher degree of automation of combat work, the use of modern element base, the ability to integrate not only the Air Force, but also other types of armed forces into various control levels, as well as an increase in the number of simultaneously accompanied and fired goals. Although in 2007 it was officially announced that the far border of the S-400 air defense system could reach 400 km, until recently, the ammunition load included only 48N6 anti-aircraft guided missiles, which entered service in the early 1990s along with the S-300PM air defense systems. The maximum range of destruction of large aerodynamic targets of the 48N6E3 SAM at medium altitudes is 250 km.
In general, the S-400 anti-aircraft missile division retained the S-300P structure, including a multifunctional radar, launchers, autonomous detection and target designation equipment. All combat means of air defense systems are located on a self-propelled wheeled chassis with increased cross-country ability, have built-in systems of autonomous power supply, topographic location, communications and life support. To ensure long-term continuous operation, the possibility of power supply from external power supply means is provided. The S-400 air defense control system includes a 55K6E combat control point and a 91N6E detection radar.
PBU 55K6 is designed for automated control of the combat operation of air defense systems based on data from its own, attached and interacting sources of information in difficult conditions of combat use. It is an F9 hardware container mounted on the Ural-532301 off-road vehicle chassis and includes modern communication, navigation and data processing facilities. For visual display of radar data, mapping and control of subordinate elements of the complex, multifunctional color liquid crystal indicators are used. Compared to the command posts of the S-300PS / PM divisions, the PBU 55K6 has become much more compact.
Based on the information supplied by the detection radar, the command post allocates targets between the guided anti-aircraft missile systems of the system, provides them with appropriate target designation, and also interacts with the air defense system in conditions of massive air attacks at various altitudes of their combat use, in an environment of intense radio countermeasures. The command post of the air defense missile system can also receive additional route information about the targets from the higher command posts, to which the ground radars of the standby and combat modes are locked, or directly from these radars, as well as from the onboard radars of aviation complexes. The integration of radar information received in various wavelengths is most expedient in conditions of intense radio countermeasures. The command post of the S-400 air defense system is simultaneously capable of controlling the actions of 8 divisions.
The 91N6E radar system for detecting air targets operates in the decimeter frequency range and is a development variant of the 64N6E station used as part of the S-300PM. All elements of the complex are located on the MZKT-7930 chassis.
In open sources it is said that the 91N6E RLK is capable of taking on automatic tracking ballistic targets with an EPR of 0.4 sq. m, flying at speeds up to 4800 m / s at a distance of up to 230 km. Large high-altitude air targets are taken for tracking from 530 km. The maximum detection range is 600 km.
For maximum adaptation to the air situation in the 91N6E radar, various modes of circular and sectorial viewing are implemented, including with a stopped antenna rotation drive and a headlamp tilt. The radar uses a double-sided pass-through HEADLIGHT with beam scanning in two planes. High noise immunity is provided due to programmable tuning of the carrier frequency from pulse to pulse and the introduction of special high-potential modes of the sector survey of space.
The expansion of the capabilities for the timely detection of air targets for anti-aircraft missile regiments armed with the S-400 is provided by the additionally attached 96L6E all-altitude detector, the Protivnik-GE, Gamma-D and Sky-M radar stations.
Multifunctional radar station 92N6E provides target detection, taking them for tracking and guidance of anti-aircraft missiles, with automatic assessment of the results of firing.
MRLS 92N6E, when interacting with the 30K6E control system, provides the possibility of autonomous actions of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile battalion in the sector of responsibility. The most important element of the 92N6E MRLS is a high-potential three-coordinate monopulse station with a phased antenna array of the through-feed type, with a diverse set of signals. It is capable of providing simultaneous tracking of 100 targets and accurate tracking of 6 targets. MRLS 92N6E carries out automatic information exchange with SU 30K6E.
According to the advertising brochures, the S-400 missile launcher can include up to 12 launchers 5P85TE2 (towed) or 5P85SE2 (self-propelled). However, in practice, combatant divisions have no more than eight launchers. Each towed or self-propelled launcher has four transport and launch containers with anti-aircraft missiles. Command and control facilities are capable of providing simultaneous shelling of 36 targets using 72 anti-aircraft missiles, which exceeds the fire capabilities of a standard anti-aircraft missile battalion.
Initially, the troops received S-400 air defense systems, equipped with towed launchers and BAZ-64022 tractors. However, in terms of mobility and cross-country ability on soft soils, this option loses to complexes on a self-propelled chassis and, in fact, is a step back to the first modification of the S-300PT, which was put into service in 1978.
It cannot be said that our military and the creators of the S-400 air defense system did not understand the flawedness of this approach, but they were forced to put up with it, since the production of wheeled vehicles MAZ-543M remained in Belarus. However, a few years after the adoption of the S-400, self-propelled launchers appeared in the army. In this case, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation showed a master's approach, using the SPU of the S-300PS air defense systems being removed from service. Taking into account the fact that the launchers are mainly on combat duty at stationary positions, in most cases they have a low mileage and a significant residual resource. After a major overhaul on the MAZ-543M chassis, produced in the mid and late 1980s, launching equipment for new missiles, modern communications and combat control were mounted.
However, it is also not worth overestimating the level of mobility of vehicles based on MAZ-543M. Despite the fact that the SPU5P85SE2 is not the heaviest element of the air defense system, the weight of the self-propelled launcher exceeds 42 tons, the length is 13, and the width is 3.8 meters. It is clear that with such weight and dimensions, despite the four-axle base, the vehicle's passability on soft soils and various irregularities will be far from ideal.
To defeat aerodynamic and ballistic targets, the S-400 air defense system at the first stage included 48N6E2 and 48N6E3 anti-aircraft missiles, originally created for the S-300PM air defense system. SAM 48N6E2 and 48N6E3 with a range of 200 km and 250 km and weighing 1800-1900 kg have the same layout and semi-active seeker. These missiles on a collision course are capable of destroying targets flying at speeds up to 2800 m / s and 4800 m / s, respectively. These missiles use adaptive warheads weighing 150-180 kg, specially designed to improve the effectiveness of hitting ballistic targets.
In the past, the S-400 variant with the 9M96E and 9M96E2 SAMs was advertised at arms exhibitions and aerospace shows. These highly maneuverable gas-dynamic missiles are capable of maneuvering with an overload of up to 20G. The 9M96E and 9M96E2 missiles are completely unified in the composition of onboard equipment, combat equipment and design, the 9M96E rocket differs from the 9M96E2 in size and characteristics. The target destruction range of the 9M96E SAM is 40 km, and the defeat height is from 5 to 20 km, and the mass is 335 kg. The target destruction range of the 9M96E2 SAM is 120 km, the height of the defeat is from 5 m to 30 km, and the mass is 420 kg. Control of small-sized missiles - combined. On most of the flight trajectory, a programmable autopilot is used, using information about the coordinates of the target, entered into the on-board SAM equipment by ground-based air defense missile systems before launch and corrected during the flight over the radio link. In the final phase of the flight, the rocket is guided at the target by an active radar homing head. Despite the advertisements, there is no information that the 9M96E and 9M96E2 missiles are really included in the S-400 ammunition load of real objects involved in cover.
Since the adoption of the S-400 air defense system, Russian high-ranking military and civilian officials, within the framework of self-promotion and an increase in the degree of patriotic sentiment, have regularly made statements about the imminent appearance of the 40N6E long-range missile in the ammunition load. The need to create this SAM became especially urgent after our anti-aircraft missile forces parted with the last S-200VM / D air defense systems in 2008, and there was an urgent need for a "long arm" capable of reaching large high-altitude targets at a maximum distance: RTR aircraft, AWACS and electronic warfare, air command posts and strategic bombers up to the cruise missile launch line. Shooting at over-the-horizon targets beyond the radio visibility of ground-based guidance locators required the installation of a fundamentally new homing head on the rocket, capable of operating in both semi-active and active modes. In the latter case, the rocket, after climbing, on command from the ground, is transferred to the search mode and, having detected the target, is guided at it on its own.
According to the available information, the dimensions and weight of the 40N6E missiles are close to the 48N6E2 and 48N6E3 missiles, which makes it possible to use standard TPKs. According to updated data, the far border of the 40N6E missile defense zone is 380 km. The reach in height is 10-30,000 m. A number of sources say that the 40N6E missile was put into service in 2015. However, until recently, there were no missiles of this type in the troops, and the process of saturation with long-range missiles of combat-duty combatant combatant missiles is in its initial stage.
The first S-400 divisional kit in 2007 entered the 606th anti-aircraft missile regiment of the 5th Air Defense Division, stationed in the vicinity of the city of Elektrostal in the Moscow region. The second division of the same regiment was re-equipped with new equipment in 2009. Previously, the 606th air defense missile system was armed with the S-300PM air defense system. Until 2011, the S-400 air defense system was in trial operation and actually underwent military tests, during which various "children's sores" were identified and promptly eliminated. After eliminating most of the identified shortcomings, serial deliveries of the anti-aircraft system to the troops began and the S-400 began to be offered to foreign buyers.
After 2011, anti-aircraft missile forces received two to four regimental S-400 sets per year. At present, 29 anti-aircraft missile regiments are armed with the S-400 system in the Russian Aerospace Forces. In most cases, there are two divisions in a regiment, although there are exceptions. For example, in the 1532th air defense unit, which covers the base of nuclear submarines and the Elizovo airfield in Kamchatka, there are three air defense units.
According to open sources, as of the second half of 2019, we had 57 S-400 missile launchers. Twelve of them are deployed around Moscow, ten - in the Leningrad region, two - in the Saratov region, four - in the Kaliningrad region, two - in the Murmansk region, two - in the Arkhangelsk region, two - on Novaya Zemlya, in the vicinity of the Rogachevo airfield, two - near Novorossiysk, six in the Crimea, two in the Novosibirsk region, six in the Primorsky Territory, two in the Khabarovsk Territory, three in Kamchatka. There were also plans to deploy the S-400 air defense system near Tiksi in Yakutia. At least one S-400 battalion has been deployed at the Russian military base Khmeimim in Syria.
The S-400 air defense system, created using the most modern achievements of domestic science and technology, is one of the most advanced air defense systems in the world and has some anti-missile capabilities. However, it should be understood that any air defense system is not used by itself, but in combination with other components. Without establishing interaction with fighter aircraft, other ground complexes and in the absence of information exchange with centralized control bodies, any anti-aircraft system will ultimately be suppressed or destroyed by air attack weapons. A very important role is also played by the presence of a constant radar field in the entire range of altitudes.
Official Russian media form the opinion that the S-300PM / S-400 air defense systems are a superweapon capable of influencing the course of hostilities only by their presence, and they can be guaranteed to withstand all threats: ballistic and cruise missiles, combat helicopters, attack and reconnaissance aircraft., as well as unmanned aerial vehicles of any size and purpose. However, one should not think that with the help of 40N6E missiles it is possible to shoot down a cruise missile at the maximum firing distance. The real range of destruction of such a complex target will be many times less, which is primarily due to the difficulty of detecting missile launchers with low RCS flying at low altitude. The S-400 air defense system is incapable of hitting low-flying targets outside the radio horizon, which is tens of kilometers. Even taking into account the use of radar towers, it is possible to detect low-flying aircraft at distances of less than 100 km and a cruise missile at a distance of 50-60 km. In addition, long-range anti-aircraft systems themselves need cover from low-altitude air attack weapons. But not all of our S-400 anti-aircraft missile regiments have been assigned the Pantsir missile and cannon systems.
The ready-to-use ammunition load of one anti-aircraft missile battalion usually does not exceed 32 missiles. During practical firing at ranges in a difficult jamming environment, it was repeatedly confirmed that the real probability of hitting small-sized high-speed targets at low altitude with one missile is no more than 0.8. Of course, the S-400 air defense system with new missiles significantly surpasses any systems of the previous generation in terms of the number of target channels, range, height of destruction and noise immunity, but it is guaranteed that one modern combat aircraft or cruise missile cannot be shot down with one anti-aircraft missile. In addition, no quality cancels out quantity, it is impossible to hit more air targets than there are anti-aircraft missiles in a ready-to-use ammunition load. In other words, if all the missiles are used up at the firing position, then any, even the most modern and effective anti-aircraft system becomes nothing more than a pile of expensive metal, and it does not matter at all how many times it is more effective than its foreign counterparts.
It should also not be forgotten that even if there are spare missiles and infectious vehicles at the position, the process of reloading all the launchers of the division is quite lengthy and laborious. It is probably unnecessary to remind that the enemy, having detected the launches of anti-aircraft missiles, is unlikely to ignore this, and the most optimal for the air defense system would be to leave the compromised position immediately after firing, and there will be no time to reload.
Anti-aircraft missile system S-350
For all its advantages, the S-400 air defense system is quite expensive. Since the adoption of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system into service, it was clear that it was not able to replace the S-300PT and S-300PS being removed from service in a 1: 1 ratio. When firing at small low-altitude targets such as cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters, the capabilities of the S-400 air defense system are often excessive. In this regard, an analogy can be made: when doing work that does not require significant effort, it is better to get by with a hammer of a suitable size and not use a sledgehammer.
After the write-off and partial transfer to storage bases in the mid-1990s of all low-altitude S-125 air defense systems, anti-aircraft missile forces experienced a great need for an inexpensive, relatively simple anti-aircraft system with better mobility and greater flexibility of use than the existing S-300P and S-400 … In 2007, it became known that the Almaz-Antey concern, by order of the RF Ministry of Defense, is creating a medium-range complex based on the KM-SAM air defense system, manufactured for delivery to the Republic of Korea. According to the contract signed in 2010, in 2013 the new complex was supposed to enter the troops and replace the S-300PS air defense systems in the target air defense, as well as the S-300V air defense systems and the Buk-M1 air defense systems, transferred to the command of the Air Force and Air Defense during the period "Serdyukovshchina".
However, the process of creating and adopting the air defense system, which received the designation S-350 "Vityaz", was greatly delayed. In early 2013, the Izvestia newspaper reported that the leadership of the Russian Air Force expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of work, and the first tests of the complex were scheduled for the fall. In June 2013, the S-350 air defense system was publicly presented during the president's visit to the Obukhov plant, where some elements of the complex were being assembled. In August 2013, the complex was included in the exhibition at the MAKS-2013 air show.
In early 2014, a representative of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern announced that state tests of the Vityaz S-350 air defense system would be completed at the end of 2014 - early 2015. In 2014, the head of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern announced that the serial production of the complex would begin in 2015. However, as it often happens with us recently, the timing was greatly shifted to the right and the state tests of the new S-350 Vityaz air defense system were completed only in April 2019. Judging by the images of the complex, some of its elements differ from the samples presented earlier at the airshow and military equipment exhibitions.
At the end of 2019, the Almaz-Antey concern handed over the first set of S-350 air defense systems to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which entered the training center of anti-aircraft missile forces in Gatchina. At the same time, it was announced that by 2027, to put on alert 12 divisions equipped with S-350.
According to the materials presented by the developer, the S-350 air defense system includes: up to eight 50P6A self-propelled launchers, a 50N6A multifunctional radar, a 50K6A combat command post, and a 92N6E multifunctional radar (also used in the S-400 air defense system).
The command post 50K6A on a three-axle cross-country chassis BAZ-69095 is intended to guide the actions of all means of the complex. It provides interaction with neighboring S-350 air defense systems and higher command posts.
Information processing and display facilities allow simultaneous tracking of up to 200 aerodynamic and ballistic targets. The maximum distance to the command post of the neighboring S-350 air defense system is 15 km. The maximum distance to the superior command post is 30 km.
Multifunctional radar 50N6A on the BAZ-69095 chassis can be removed at a distance of up to 2 km from the control center, and operate without operator participation. Airspace viewing is carried out in circular and sector modes. Antenna rotation speed - 40 rpm.
The detection range of air targets is not disclosed in open sources. But, according to expert estimates, a fighter-type target at an average altitude can be detected within a radius of 250 km. The radar equipment allows the construction of 100 routes of air targets. In the target designation mode, the 50N6A MRLS provides firing of 16 aerodynamic and 12 ballistic targets and the simultaneous guidance of 32 missiles.
Self-propelled launcher 50P6A on a four-axle chassis BAZ-690902 is designed for transportation, storage, automatic pre-launch preparation and launch of 12 9M96E2 anti-aircraft missiles. The rockets can be launched at 2 second intervals. The time for a full replenishment of ammunition is 30 minutes. The SPU can be spaced from the control point of the zrdn at a distance of up to 2 km.
According to information published during various exhibition events, in addition to 9M96E2 missiles with an active radar guidance head, it is planned to introduce 9M100 short-range missiles into the S-350 air defense system's ammunition. The 9M100 missile with a firing range of 15 km and an altitude reach of 5-8000 m is primarily intended for self-defense and anti-drones. The affected area of aerodynamic targets in range: 1500-60000 m, in height: 10-30000 m.
Taking into account the fact that up to 8 SPUs are used in the S-350 division, 96 anti-aircraft missiles can be launched at an air enemy in a short period of time, which is three times more than in the S-400 missile system. In addition, due to its smaller dimensions, the S-350 air defense system has better mobility and is less noticeable on the ground. This complex can be used with equal success to provide anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense of stationary objects and military groupings. However, it would be wrong to think that the latest S-350 and Buk-M3 air defense systems are competitors. The S-350 complex is primarily intended for long-term combat duty and repelling sudden massive attacks of air attack weapons. The military air defense system "Buk-M3", being placed on a tracked chassis, is able to move over rough terrain and soft ground in the same columns with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Due to the different conceptual approach to the construction of object and military complexes, the Buk-M3 air defense system has the best combat survivability. But at the same time, compared to the S-350, created for the Russian Aerospace Forces, the army Buk-M3 is much more expensive and more difficult to operate. Although in the past, air defense systems on a tracked chassis were forced to be involved in providing air defense of strategically important objects, the use of army complexes in such a role cannot be considered rational.
The number and combat capabilities of Russian air defense systems and air defense systems of medium and long range
In the course of work on the review cycle dedicated to the anti-aircraft systems available in the air defense units of the ground forces and in the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces, I initially did not plan to dwell in detail on the current state of the air defense system of our country,but the statements of some readers are compelling to do so. In a commentary to the publication “Basis of the RF air defense ground segment in the 1990s. ZRS S-300PT, S-300PS and S-300PM one of the readers wrote the following (punctuation and spelling preserved):
S-300 in Russia of all modifications of a wagon and a bogie. True, there were breakdowns when escorted by SR - 71, the infection flew too quickly in those years, but otherwise everything was in openwork. And I pulled the strap on the "Wasp". And now everything is closed (in the sense of the sky), you will not wish the enemy. And the basis is the S-300. Even under the USSR, this was not the case.
Of course, it is strange when a person who served on a short-range military complex "Wasp" discusses the capabilities of the S-75M3 / M4, S-200VM / D and S-300PT / PS air defense systems for tracking high-speed high-altitude targets, but it’s not even in that. Let us consider what happened in the USSR and how “everything is closed” now, and we will do it using the example of the 11th Red Banner Air Defense Army, which ensures the inviolability of our air borders in the Far East. The area of responsibility of 11 OA Air Defense - defense objects within the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Kamchatka Territories, the Amur, Jewish Autonomous and Sakhalin Regions, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug - a territory comparable to the area of several European states.
Until 1994, the 11th Air Defense OA included: 8th Air Defense Corps (Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Territory), 23rd Air Defense Corps (Vladivostok, Primorsky Territory), 72nd Air Defense Corps (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Region), 25th Air Defense Division (Coal Mines, Chukotka Autonomous District), 29th Air Defense Division (Belogorsk, Amur Region). At the time of the collapse of the USSR, the Far Eastern frontiers were protected by 11 fighter regiments armed with interceptors: Su-15TM, MiG-23ML / MLD / MLA, MiG-25PD / PDS, MiG-31 and Su-27P. In service with the fighter regiments of the USSR Air Defense Forces deployed in the Far East, without taking into account the Yak-28P, Su-15 and MiG-23 aircraft in storage, and front-line fighters, there were more than 300 fighter-interceptors. In positions around strategically important facilities, on the territory of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin Regions and the Jewish Autonomy, about 70 anti-aircraft missile battalions C-75M3, C-125M / M1, C-200VM and C-300PS were deployed.
An anti-aircraft missile division is a unit capable, if necessary, of conducting combat operations autonomously for some time, in isolation from the main forces. The mixed-strength anti-aircraft missile brigade had from 2 to 6 target channels (srn) of the S-200 long-range air defense system, and 8-12 S-75 and S-125 missile systems. The anti-aircraft missile regiments usually included three to five medium-range air defense missiles S-75M3 or S-300PS. Also, the Air Defense Forces of the Land Forces of the Far Eastern Military District had numerous short-range complexes of the regimental level "Strela-1", "Strela-10" and ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", divisional air defense systems "Osa-AK / AKM" and "Cube", as well as SAM "Buk-M1" and "Krug-M1" army and front-line subordination.
In the mid-1990s, a landslide reduction of units and formations of the 11th Air Defense OA began. All Su-15TM, MiG-23ML / MLD / MLA and MiG-25PD / PDS fighters were withdrawn from service. In a number of cases, the fighter aviation regiments armed by them were completely disbanded. By 1995, all S-75 and S-125 air defense systems were removed from combat duty. The same fate befell the long-range S-200s in the late 1990s. Although the complexes removed from combat duty, in most cases, were not immediately sent for "disposal", but were transferred to the reserve bases, a few years after "storage" in the open air and without appropriate security, hunters for radio components containing precious metals made them absolutely unsuitable for further use. As a result, as a result of a series of reductions, reforms and measures to "give a new look", the 11th Air Defense Forces began to represent a pale shadow of the combat power that existed in Soviet times. This is clearly seen in the example of the 8th Air Defense Corps, which shrank to the 25th Red Banner Komsomolsk Air Defense Division. In 1991, strategically important objects in the Komsomolsk, Solnechny and Amur regions were defended by 14 S-75M3, S-125M / M1, S-200VM air defense systems. In the second half of the 1990s, all anti-aircraft systems available in this area were concentrated in the 1530th air defense missile regiment rearmed on the S-300PS. The regiment, stationed in ZATO Lian, 40 km north of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, had 5 divisions, of which three were on constant combat duty.
Relatively recently, the personnel of the 1530th air defense unit mastered the S-400 air defense system. Instead of five, there were two anti-aircraft missile battalions in the regiment, and it relocated to the vicinity of the village of Bolshaya Kartel. At the same time, the military town in ZATO Lian was abandoned and is now being plundered. The divisions of the 1530th airborne brigade take turns on alert, one at the place of permanent deployment, at the former position of the Duga ZGRLS, the other on the banks of the Amur, not far from the village of Verkhnyaya Econ.
Roughly the same situation is now with other air defense units that have survived as part of the 11th Army. In addition to the 1530th air defense missile regiment, the 25th air defense missile regiment has the 1529th guards anti-aircraft missile regiment (3 air defense missile systems S-300PS), stationed in the area of the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye near Khabarovsk, and the 1724th anti-aircraft missile regiment (2 air defense missile systems S-300V), stationed near Birobidzhan and is now in the process of reorganization and rearmament.
In the 93rd Air Defense Forces, in whose area of responsibility the Primorsky Territory is located, there are two anti-aircraft missile regiments: the 533th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the Red Banner (3 S-400 air defense missiles) protects the city of Vladivostok, and the 589th anti-aircraft missile regiment (2 C-missile air defense missiles) 400) must defend the Find.
Three S-400 divisions of the 1532th anti-aircraft missile regiment are deployed in Kamchatka. Anti-aircraft positions protect the nuclear submarine base in Krasheninnikov Bay, the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the Elizovo airfield.
Thus, with the help of simple calculations, it is possible to calculate the number of anti-aircraft missile launchers on alert in the Far Eastern Military District. Under the condition of full technical serviceability of 13 air defense missiles in positions, there can be up to 416 ready-to-use missiles with a target area of 90-250 km (excluding two C-300V4 missiles of the 1724th air defense missile system, which is in the process of rearmament), which can be used to repel the first massive raid. Taking into account the fact that two missiles are usually aimed at one air target, in ideal conditions, in the absence of fire resistance in the form of strikes against launching positions with anti-radar and cruise missiles with an autonomous guidance system and in a simple jamming environment, with a probability of destruction of about 0.9 approximately 200 targets can be fired upon.
In two fighter regiments (22 and 23 iap) of the 303rd mixed aviation Smolensk Red Banner Order of Suvorov division, according to information published in open sources, there are 36 Su-35S, 6 Su-30SM, 6 Su-30M2, 4 Su-27SM and 24 MiG-31. At the Elizovo airfield in Kamchatka, a squadron of MiG-31 interceptors of the 317th separate mixed aviation regiment is based, the number of which is estimated at 12-16 aircraft. Since some of the combat aircraft are constantly under repair and in reserve, about 80 fighters can be taken into the air to repel a massive raid, which, of course, is not enough for such a vast territory. When performing interception tasks at the maximum combat radius and the suspension of four medium-range air combat missiles and two melee missiles, one can expect that a pair of S-35S or MiG-31 can shoot down four enemy cruise missiles in one sortie. However, the capabilities of the Su-27SM and Su-30M2, equipped with less advanced radar, in the ammunition of which there is no missile launcher with AGSN, is much more modest.
In the east of Russia, we now have 13-15 medium and long-range air defense systems and less than a hundred fighters. Compared to 1991, anti-aircraft missile systems carrying constant combat duty in the region have decreased by 4, 6 times, and the number of fighters has decreased by more than 3 times (in fact, more, since we took into account only the USSR air defense interceptors without front-line fighters) … In fairness, it must be said that the existing S-300PS, S-300V4 and S-400 air defense systems, even with a three times smaller number, are theoretically capable of simultaneously firing at more air targets than the decommissioned first-generation complexes. However, the statements of our high-ranking military and civilian officials that the new anti-aircraft systems, due to the larger number of guidance channels and the increased firing range, have an efficiency that is 10 or more times greater are slyness. Do not forget that the means of air attack of the probable "partners" have also made great strides forward. Cruise missiles with a launch range exceeding the S-400 air defense system are included in the ammunition load of not only long-range bombers, but also tactical and carrier-based aircraft. In addition, it is physically impossible to destroy more than one air target with a single anti-aircraft missile with a conventional warhead. Considering the huge size of our Far Eastern territories, the extreme underdevelopment of ground communications and the presence of serious threats from the United States, Japan and China, the ground air defense grouping in the Far East is completely inadequate and requires multiple strengthening.
As for the general state of our facility air defense, it is far from ideal. Moscow and partly St. Petersburg are well covered from air strikes; the rest of our country has focal air defense. Many strategically important facilities, such as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, large industrial and administrative centers, and even the deployment areas of strategic missile divisions, are generally not protected from air attack.
According to information published in open sources, in our armed forces, taking into account the aerospace forces and air defense of the ground forces, there are no more than 130 divisions equipped with S-300PS / PM1 / PM2 air defense systems, S-300V / B4, S-400, Buk-M1 / M2 / M3 ". At first glance, this is a very significant number, allowing us to speak of our overwhelming superiority over the United States and NATO in the field of air defense. However, in the next few years, the S-300PS air defense systems and the Buk-M1 air defense systems built in the USSR will inevitably be written off due to the full depletion of the resource and the lack of conditioned anti-aircraft missiles. Also, one should not forget that a significant part of our country's territory is within the reach of American tactical and carrier-based combat aviation, and in the Far East our peace-loving "strategic partner" has multiple military superiority.
Taking into account the fact that not a single new long-range anti-aircraft missile system was delivered to the air defense forces of the Russian Federation in the period from 1994 to 2007, we can say that now the situation has begun to gradually improve. In addition to means of fire destruction, the air defense forces receive new radars, modern means of communication, control and electronic warfare. However, at present, the supply of new equipment and weapons only replaces in combat units that which has to be written off due to extreme physical wear and tear and hopeless obsolescence. To increase the combat potential and increase the number of anti-aircraft missile systems protecting the inviolability of our air borders, additional financial resources are required. The main arguments of the opponents of improving ground air defense are its high cost and the inability to independently ensure victory in an armed conflict, since the role of air defense is defensive. But at the same time, the hostilities in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya demonstrate that weak ground air defense is an absolute guarantee of quick and complete defeat in the war.
