In the past, a strategic missile defense complex was created in our country, protecting Moscow and the Central Industrial Region from a possible attack. At the same time, anti-aircraft systems are in service, capable of solving some missile defense missions and hitting missiles of different classes. According to recent reports, some of the country's anti-aircraft weapons may be combined into a new non-strategic missile defense system. The concept of such a system has already been formed and approved.
NMD News
The existence of the original proposal on the night of October 3 was reported by Izvestia. From an unnamed source in the military department, it received curious information about the latest work in the field of aerospace defense. As stated, in the foreseeable future, a new system of non-strategic missile defense (NMD) may appear in our country, which will have to withstand a number of urgent threats.
It is reported that to date, unnamed specialists have developed a general concept for a promising NMD. This document was reviewed by the Ministry of Defense. The concept was approved and approved. Now, most likely, its implementation will begin. Unfortunately, Izvestia and other domestic media were unable to find out any organizational and technical details of the concept. At the same time, the goals and objectives of the NMD, as well as the ways of their solution, have been published.
The task of the new missile defense system will be to cover important objects of various kinds. With its help, it is planned to protect strategically important military facilities, cities, transport infrastructure of all types, socially significant facilities, etc. NMD components can be deployed in different regions of the country - in this context, it will become a kind of analogue of Moscow's missile defense system and an addition to it.
NMD will have to deal with all the main threats that exist now and are expected in the future. The complexes from the system will have to find and engage short- or medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic strike aircraft.
The new missile defense system in its structure and architecture will be radically different from the existing strategic one. Instead of large stationary objects, it is proposed to use mobile anti-aircraft missile systems. SAM components on self-propelled wheeled chassis will be able to reach the required positions in a minimum time and organize a defense area there. Depending on the location of the basing points and working positions, it may take no more than a few hours to deploy an NMD in a given area.
Security threats
Moscow and the Central Industrial Region are protected by a strategic missile defense system. Its mission is to detect and destroy enemy ICBMs and their warheads. This system solves particularly complex and important tasks, but at the same time it is not at all difficult to notice that its capabilities are very limited to some extent. Moscow's missile defense system cannot defend other regions, and besides, it fundamentally cannot resist some threats. At present, in addition to ICBMs, the security of Russia may be threatened by missile weapons of other classes, which must be taken into account in the development of strategic missile defense and the construction of an NMD.
In recent decades, ballistic missiles of all major classes have appeared in service with many countries of the near and far abroad - from operational-tactical complexes to medium-range systems. All of them can pose a threat to our country, since their flight range is sufficient to strike at certain targets on Russian territory.
It should be recalled that a number of states possessing medium- or short-range missiles currently have no reason to use them against Russia. This is facilitated by favorable relations between countries and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. However, one should not overestimate the positive factors and assume that this situation will persist forever. For this reason, the capabilities of the missile forces of Iran, China or European states should be taken into account.
Cruise missiles in various basing variants pose a serious threat. Modern samples of this class combine high flight performance, the ability to carry a serious payload and high accuracy. Placing missiles on air or sea platforms, in turn, allows you to choose the optimal launch area and realize the capabilities of the weapon. Various types of cruise missiles are in service with many countries, and the development of such weapons continues.
It should be noted that cruise missiles belong to the so-called. aerodynamic targets, and therefore are included in the scope of air defense tasks. Modern anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems are capable of detecting and hitting such weapons in a timely manner. In other words, no separate means are needed to combat cruise missiles.
In a number of leading countries of the world, research is being carried out in the field of hypersonic aircraft. In the medium term, they should lead to the emergence and massive deployment of fundamentally new strike systems with particularly high characteristics. According to various estimates, hypersonic strike systems will combine the main features of ballistic and cruise missiles: such vehicles will be able to launch from ground installations, develop high speeds and maneuver throughout the flight. An aircraft with such capabilities will become an extremely difficult target for air and missile defense.
Obviously, in the foreseeable future, only a few developed countries will be able to create their own hypersonic systems, the industrial potential of which allows the development and mastering of particularly complex technologies. The first operators of systems of this kind should be Russia, the United States and China. Taking into account the current situation in the international arena, one can imagine whose hypersonic complexes will pose the main threat to our country.
Remedies
According to Izvestia's information, Russia's promising non-strategic missile defense will be built on the basis of anti-aircraft systems, made on automobile chassis. First of all, this indicates the possibility of a quick transfer of complexes to a given area and deployment at a specified position. At the same time, the published information makes it possible to present an approximate architecture and components of a future NMD.
It is well known that Soviet / Russian air defense systems of the S-300 family can hit not only aerodynamic, but also ballistic targets. Depending on the model of the complex and the type of missile used, it is possible to destroy targets of different classes with characteristics in wide ranges. According to known data, the most advanced missiles from the S-300P and S-300V are capable of hitting ballistic targets with a pallet speed of up to 4500 m / s. The maximum firing range for such targets reaches 40 km, the altitude is 25-30 km.
Thus, air defense systems of the S-300 family are capable of fighting not only against aerodynamic targets in a wide range of ranges and altitudes, but also against ballistic missiles of an operational-tactical class, as well as short and medium range. The potential of such complexes in the fight against hypersonic aircraft is not yet completely clear, and there are still reasons for doubts about the effective work on such targets.
As part of the newer S-400 Triumph project, new components of the anti-aircraft system were created, as well as a number of promising missiles with increased characteristics. According to open data, the new 48N6E3 guided missile is capable of intercepting ballistic targets at speeds up to 4.8 km / s. The defeat of such objects is carried out at a distance of up to 60 km. At the same time, the S-400 shows high tactical and technical characteristics in the fight against aerodynamic targets. There is also significant potential to counter hypersonic aircraft.
According to media reports, anti-aircraft systems on a wheeled chassis should be used as part of the future NMD. From this it follows that the S-300P line of air defense systems and the newer S-400 can become the means of protecting important objects from existing threats. This technique is well mastered by the troops and has long been ensuring the security of the country's air borders. In fact, now we are talking about new methods of its application.
Organization issues
This issue has not yet been covered in open sources, but it is obvious that a promising NMD should include not only anti-aircraft systems with all the required means. Such a system requires air and outer space control facilities, as well as control facilities. It is not known exactly how the monitoring of the situation and the management of the NMD will be organized.
It can be assumed that non-strategic missile defense will be partially integrated with the existing missile defense and missile attack warning system. In this case, the existing radar stations will become the source of data on the appearance of missiles. The existing or newly created command center will have to interact with them, the task of which will be to distribute threats between the air defense systems in the positions. However, the appearance of the proposed tracking and control system may be different.
Apparently, the issues of organizing the entire system and the topic of managing its individual components were considered in the document submitted to the Ministry of Defense. However, such details of the proposed concept have not yet been published in open sources. Probably, if they are announced, it will be only in the future - not earlier than the construction of the NMD begins.
Defense development
Currently, in our country, there are several main systems for protecting important facilities and areas from air and missile attacks. First of all, this is the missile defense system of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region. Almost the entire perimeter of the state, as well as a significant part of the internal territories, is covered by anti-aircraft missile systems capable of fighting both aerodynamic and ballistic targets. In this case, we are talking about echeloned air defense covering large areas.
Deployed systems meet current requirements and provide reliable protection against a range of existing threats. At the same time, the level of protection against certain existing threats, as well as the potential of air defense / missile defense in dealing with promising challenges may be insufficient. In this regard, it is required to develop aerospace defense - both through the creation of improved air defense systems and through new methods of their use.
According to the latest data, in the foreseeable future, non-strategic missile defense may appear in our country, designed to solve special problems. With its help, it is proposed to protect almost all regions of the country outside the zone of responsibility of the Moscow missile defense system from enemy missiles, which it should supplement. At the same time, however, the two missile defense systems must work with different threats and be responsible for the security of different objects.
As follows from the available data, so far non-strategic missile defense exists only in the form of a concept. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense has already studied it and then approved it. This means that in the near future new proposals can be accepted for implementation, and based on the results of subsequent work, the country will receive the most serious protection from existing and expected threats.
