In a recent publication, Features of Combat Training for US Air Force and Navy Pilots. Who are the American pilots preparing to fight with?”One of the readers, in the spirit of humorist Mikhail Zadornov, complained about the stupidity of the Americans using fighters with red stars in the Aggressor squadrons, painted in a color uncharacteristic for the US Air Force and Navy. The question was also asked when was the last time an enemy aircraft was shot down from an aircraft cannon in close air combat and it was stated: "Pilots are firing missiles at each other from a distance of tens, if not hundreds of kilometers," the enemy is not needed. However, few of the readers offhand can name the last case of the successful combat use of an anti-aircraft missile against a manned American combat aircraft. Nevertheless, "stupid Americans" consider ground-based anti-aircraft systems to be no less a threat than enemy fighters.
Study of Soviet air defense systems in the 1970s-1980s
As you know, the first victims of the Soviet anti-aircraft missile system SA-75 "Dvina" were high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of American production RB-57 and U-2, which flew over the territory of the PRC, the USSR and Cuba. Although this air defense system was originally primarily intended to counter high-altitude reconnaissance and strategic bombers, it performed well during the hostilities in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The Americans contemptuously called the B-750B missiles flying "telegraph poles", but at the same time they were forced to spend considerable forces and resources on countering the air defense system: to develop evasion tactics, to allocate suppression strike groups and to equip their aircraft with active jamming stations.
Of course, the anti-aircraft complexes of the C-75 family were not devoid of a number of significant disadvantages. Mobility and deployment-folding time left much to be desired, which inevitably affected vulnerability. Many problems were created by the need to refuel rockets with liquid fuel and an oxidizer. The complex was single-channel in terms of the target and was often successfully suppressed by organized interference. Nevertheless, the S-75 air defense systems of various modifications, exported until the end of the 1980s, in the course of local conflicts, managed to have a significant impact on the course of hostilities, becoming the most belligerent anti-aircraft missile systems and one of the main threats to American aviation.
Despite its considerable age, the S-75 air defense systems are still on alert in Vietnam, Egypt, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Romania, and Syria. The Chinese version of the HQ-2 is in service with the PRC and Iran. Given that some of these countries are considered by the United States as potential rivals, the American command is forced to reckon with the presence of their complexes, albeit outdated, but still having a certain combat potential.
Since the first clash with the Soviet air defense systems, American intelligence has offered great efforts to familiarize themselves with them in detail, which would make it possible to develop countermeasures. For the first time, American specialists managed to get acquainted in detail with the elements of the C-75 captured by the Israelis in Egypt in the early 1970s. During the War of Attrition, Israeli special forces carried out a successful operation to capture the P-12 radar station, which is used as a radar reconnaissance station for an anti-aircraft missile battalion. The radar was removed from the position on the external sling of the CH-53 helicopter. Having gained access to the elements of the air defense missile system and the radar, Israeli and American experts were able to develop recommendations on countermeasures and received valuable material for conducting electronic warfare against Soviet air defense systems. But even before that, mock-ups of anti-aircraft systems appeared at aviation training grounds in the United States, on which American pilots learned to fight them.
The most effective methods were: a breakthrough to the position of the air defense missile system at a low altitude, below the target of the missile defense system and a dive followed by bombing in a "dead funnel". Although even the latest modifications of the S-75 are outdated, there are still quite a few target positions left on American training grounds, on which missile and bomb strikes are regularly carried out during exercises.
After the conclusion of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979, Western intelligence services were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves in detail with the latest samples of Soviet equipment and weapons at that time. As you know, the Soviet leadership, fearing that modern anti-aircraft systems would enter China, refrained from supplying the latest models of air defense systems to Vietnam. On the contrary, our "Arab friends" fighting the "Israeli military" received the most modern weapons at that time. The equipment delivered to Egypt differed from the one that was on combat duty in the air defense forces of the USSR in the mid-1970s only by the state identification system and the simplified execution of some elements. Familiarization of American experts even with export models caused enormous damage to the defense capability of the USSR air defense forces. After the termination of the Soviet-Egyptian military-technical cooperation in Egypt, in addition to the CA-75M, which is well known to the Americans in Vietnam, there remained the S-75M medium-range air defense system with the B-755 missile defense system, the low-altitude C-125 with the B-601P missiles, the Kvadrat military mobile complexes, ACS ASURK-1ME, radars: P-12, P-14, P-15, P-35. It is clear that there was no question of copying Soviet-made equipment and weapons, the Americans were primarily interested in the characteristics of the detection range and jamming immunity of radars, the operating modes of the guidance stations, the sensitivity and operating frequencies of the radio fuses of missiles, the size of the dead zones of the air defense system and the ability to fight air targets on small heights. The study of the characteristics of Soviet air defense systems and radars was carried out by specialists from the laboratory of the US Department of Defense at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville (Alabama), on the basis of which recommendations were issued on the development of methods, techniques and countermeasures.
Taking into account the fact that enterprises for the repair and maintenance of radio equipment and elements of anti-aircraft systems were built in Cairo and Alexandria, secret technical documentation with a detailed description of the schemes and operating modes of Soviet-made air defense systems was at the disposal of the Western intelligence services. However, the Egyptians sold Soviet military secrets to everyone. So the Chinese received the S-75M "Volga" air defense system and the B-755 missiles at their disposal, thanks to which the HQ-2J air defense system appeared in the PRC. After studying the MiG-23 fighter, Chinese designers, in view of the high complexity of the task at hand, decided to abandon the construction of a fighter with a variable geometry wing. And on the basis of several operational-tactical complexes 9K72 "Elbrus" transferred by Egypt and a package of technical documentation in North Korea, production of its own analogues of the Soviet OTR R-17 was established.
In the late 1980s, a number of Soviet-made equipment and weapons captured in Chad were at the disposal of Western intelligence services. Among the trophies of the French contingent was a fully serviceable air defense system "Kvadrat", which was more modern than those available in Egypt.
Study of Soviet air defense systems in the 1990s
At the end of 1991, in the state of New Mexico, at the White Sands test site, a self-propelled short-range air defense missile system "Osa-AK" was tested. The country from where it was brought to the United States is still undisclosed. But based on the test date, it can be assumed that this short-range mobile air defense system was captured by American troops in Iraq.
Immediately after the liquidation of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany, the anti-aircraft missile systems that were in service with the army of the GDR became the object of close attention of Western experts. In the second half of 1992, two German Osa-AKM air defense systems were delivered to the Eglin airbase by a C-5V heavy military transport aircraft. Together with the mobile complexes, German calculations arrived. According to the information released to the public, field tests with real launches against air targets in Florida lasted more than two months, and several radio-controlled air targets were shot down during the shooting.
After the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact and the collapse of the USSR, air defense systems were at the disposal of the United States, which the Americans previously could not even dream of. For some time, Western experts were at a loss, not knowing where to start studying the wealth that had fallen on their heads. In the early 1990s, several working groups were created in the United States, staffed by military and civilian specialists. The tests were carried out at the Tonopah and Nellis test sites (Nevada), Eglin (Florida), White Sands (New Mexico). The main center for testing Soviet air defense systems in the 1990s was the vast Tonopah test site in Nevada, which is larger than the much more famous Nevada nuclear test site located nearby.
Although, before the liquidation of the ATS, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria managed to receive the S-300PMU anti-aircraft missile systems (the export version of the S-300PS), and NATO experts had access to them, these countries preferred to keep the modern air defense systems at their disposal.
As a result, the Americans went for a trick, purchasing parts of the S-300PT / PS and S-300V air defense systems in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In Ukraine, 35D6 and 36D6M radars were purchased, which were part of the regimental set of S-300PT / PS air defense systems, as well as the 96L6E all-altitude detector. At the first stage, the radar equipment was thoroughly tested, and then used during the exercises of the combat aviation of the Air Force, Navy and the USMC.
By the mid-1990s, in addition to the S-300, American defense research centers had a wide range of Soviet-made air defense equipment: ZSU-23-4 Shilka, MANPADS Strela-3 and Igla-1, mobile military complexes Strela- 1 "," Strela-10 "," Osa-AKM "," Cube "and" Circle ", as well as the object SAM S-75M3 and S-125M1. From an unnamed country in Eastern Europe, a guidance station for the S-200VE air defense missile system was delivered to the United States. Before the dissolution of the ATS, long-range complexes of this type had been supplied to Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and Czechoslovakia since the mid-1980s.
In addition to anti-aircraft systems, the Americans were very much interested in the capabilities of our radars for detecting air targets and weapon guidance radars. The radar instrument complex RPK-1 "Vaza", radars P-15, P-18, P-19, P-37, P-40, 35D6, 36D6M and radio altimeters PRV-9 were tested in field conditions with the participation of American combat aircraft., PRV-16, PRV-17. At the same time, the P-18, 35D6 and 36D6M radars demonstrated the best results in detecting aircraft made with elements of low radar signature. A thorough study of the characteristics of radars and guidance stations of anti-aircraft missile systems made it possible to improve the jamming equipment and develop recommendations for evasion techniques and combating ground-based air defense systems.
Practicing the suppression of the Soviet-style air defense system
After a detailed study, characterization and testing, the Americans moved on to the next stage. Soviet equipment was deployed at aviation training grounds for combat use, and with its use, the mass training of pilots of the Air Force, Navy, KMP and army aviation began. American pilots practiced tactical techniques to overcome Soviet-style air defense systems and learned in practice to use electronic suppression equipment and aircraft weapons. From the second half of the 1990s, pilots of American attack aircraft were able to conduct combat training using radars and Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile guidance stations. This made it possible in the learning process to maximize the reproduction of high-frequency signals characteristic of air defense systems at the disposal of states that are targets of potential American aviation strikes.
During the exercise, the aircraft was considered "conditionally shot down" if for a certain time it was in the zone of action of the air defense missile system at a distance of 2/3 of the maximum range of destruction and the escort was not disrupted.
In the US Air Force, the main centers for practicing methods of combating Soviet air defense systems were training grounds located in the state of Nevada in the vicinity of Nellis, Fallon and Tonopah airbases, as well as in Florida in the vicinity of Eglin and Mackdill airbases. To give more realism, several airstrips were built at the test sites, simulating enemy airfields, target complexes with various kinds of structures, trains, air defense missile systems, bridges, columns of armored vehicles and long-term defense units.
The crews of the EA-6 Prowler and EA-18 Growler "flying jammers" and the methods of using anti-radar guided missiles were practicing their actions on real models of radar technology. The leader in this type of exercise was the training grounds in the vicinity of the Nellis and Fallon airbases, where from 1996 to 2012 exercises were held 4-6 times a year to combat air defense systems and destroy ground targets. Particular attention was paid to electronic suppression. American pilots learned to operate in erratic radio conditions, relying mainly on inertial navigation aids. The American command quite reasonably believes that in the event of a collision with a strong enemy, radio communications, the channels of the TACAN satellite and pulse radio navigation system with a high degree of probability can be suppressed.
The use of radar and pyrotechnic simulators in the process of combat training
At present, the intensity of such exercises has decreased by about 3 times, and most of the Soviet-made equipment is concentrated at the training grounds of the military bases of Nellis, Eglin, White Sands and Fort Stewart. Some of the radars and missile guidance stations are occasionally used during exercises, but the main emphasis in the last 15 years has been placed on radar simulators.
During the operation of Soviet radio engineering systems, the Americans encountered difficulties in maintaining them in working order. Most of the equipment lacked English-language technical documentation and there was a shortage of spare parts. Electronic units built on electric vacuum devices required frequent adjustment and adjustment, which implied the involvement of highly qualified specialists. As a result, the leadership of the US Department of Defense considered it irrational and too expensive to use original Soviet radars for routine training and signed contracts for the development of radar simulators with private companies involved in the combat training process.
At the first stage, AHNTECH Inc. was involved in the creation of the AN / MPS-T1 simulator, which reproduces the radiation of the CHR-75 anti-aircraft missile guidance station from the C-75 air defense system, which works in the field of creating telecommunication systems and satellite communication equipment.
The hardware van of the guidance station was transferred to another towed platform, and the electronic part was completely redesigned. After the transition to a modern element base, it was possible to reduce energy consumption and significantly increase reliability. The task was facilitated by the fact that the equipment was only supposed to reproduce the operating modes of the CHR-75; it was not required to carry out real missile guidance.
The simulator can be controlled by one operator using an automated workstation. In addition to the US armed forces, the AN / MPS-T1 equipment was supplied to the UK.
The first center simulating the work of Soviet radars and missile guidance stations began work at the Winston Field airfield in Texas. In 2002, the US Air Force began to conduct regular training here for the B-52H of the 2nd Bomber Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base and the B-1B of the 7th Bomber Wing from Dyce Air Force Base. After installing additional emitters and expanding the list of reproducible threats, tactical aircraft of the US Air Force, as well as AC-130 and MS-130 of special aviation, were connected to training flights in this area.
The next step was the creation of a simulator of the SNR-125 missile guidance station, which is part of the S-125 low-altitude air defense system. For this, the specialists of DRS Training & Control Systems, with minimal changes, used the original Soviet-made antenna post and new generators on a solid-state element base. This model received the designation AN / MPQ-T3.
However, the Americans did not have a sufficient number of SNR-125 antenna posts at their disposal, and several modified AN / MPQ-T3A stations were built. In this case, the parabolic antennas were located on the roof of the towed van. In addition to the operating modes of the S-125 air defense system, the equipment is capable of reproducing the radiation of the Osa air defense system and the radars of the MiG-23ML and MiG-25PD fighters.
The equipment designed to simulate the radar signals of the Cube air defense missile system is known as AN / MPQ-T13. The antenna post of the self-propelled reconnaissance and guidance unit 1C91 is installed in an open area coupled with a towed van.
Also, the Americans attended to the reproduction of one of the most common Soviet-made P-37 stations. At DRS Training & Control Systems in Fort Walton Beach, the Soviet radar has been redesigned to enable long-term operation at minimal cost. The appearance of the P-37 station, which received the designation AN / MPS-T9 in the US Air Force, has practically not changed, but the internal filling has changed dramatically.
Approximately 10 years ago, Northrop Grumman began manufacturing the ARTS-V1 towed multipurpose simulators. The equipment placed on towed platforms, developed by the company, emits radar radiation that repeats the combat operation of medium and short-range air defense systems: S-75, S-125, Osa, Tor, Kub and Buk.
The ARTS-V1 equipment has its own radar and optoelectronic devices capable of independently detecting and tracking aircraft. In total, the US Department of Defense purchased 23 sets of equipment with a total cost of $ 75 million, which allows it to be used during exercises not only on American territory, but also abroad. Another 7 sets were delivered to foreign customers.
In the last 5 years, multisystem AN / MST-T1A simulators produced by US Dynamics Corporation have been actively used at American test sites. Stations of this type are capable of reproducing high-frequency radiation from most of the anti-aircraft missile systems with radio command and radar guidance systems used by potential adversaries of the United States.
As part of the AN / MST-T1A multisystem simulator, in addition to radio frequency signal generators, the AN / MPQ-50 radar from the MIM-23 HAWK air defense missile system removed from service in the USA is used. This allows the operator to independently control the airspace in the vicinity of the test site and quickly aim generators at approaching aircraft.
According to information published in public sources, Lockheed Martin received a contract worth $ 108 million.for the supply of 20 mobile sets of ARTS-V2 equipment, which should simulate the radiation of long-range anti-aircraft missile systems. Although the type of air defense system has not been disclosed, it appears that we are talking about long-range S-300PM2, S-300V4, S-400 and Chinese HQ-9A. According to American sources, research is currently underway on the creation of ARTS-V3, but so far there is no reliable information regarding this equipment.
According to the command, American pilots must be able to work in a complex jamming environment, which can occur in the event of a collision with a technologically advanced enemy. In this case, there is a high probability of disruption to the operation of satellite navigation systems, radar altimeters and communications. In such conditions, the flight crew will have to rely on inertial navigation and their own skills.
The EWITR and AN / MLQ-T4 stations are intended to recreate the operation of Russian electronic warfare systems that suppress the signals of on-board radar, communication and navigation equipment available on American military aircraft.
If the EWITR equipment was built in a single copy, then the more advanced AN / MLQ-T4 station, which has an optoelectronic tracking system for air targets, is deployed at several air force and navy training grounds.
Although American training grounds have radar systems that reproduce anti-aircraft systems that pose a threat to combat aircraft of the US Air Force and Navy, the American military does not miss the chance to train on real modern complexes. In the past, American pilots have repeatedly learned how to deal with the Russian S-300P air defense systems on the S-300PMU / PMU-1, which are in service in Bulgaria, Greece and Slovakia. Relatively recently, information has been made public that in 2008 at the Eglin test site the Kupol target detection station and the self-propelled fire launcher, which are part of the Buk-M1 air defense missile system, were tested. From which country these combat vehicles were delivered to the United States is not known. Possible importers could be Greece, Georgia, Ukraine and Finland. There is also evidence that a short-range air defense system "Tor" was delivered to the United States from Ukraine. In 2018, it became known about the purchase by the American military department in Ukraine of a three-coordinate radar of a combat mode 36D6M1-1. After the collapse of the USSR, 36D6 radars produced in Ukraine were widely exported, including to Russia and Iran. Ten years ago, the Americans have already acquired one 36D6M radar. According to information published in the American media, the radar purchased from Ukraine was used during the tests of new cruise missiles and the F-35 fighter, as well as during the aviation exercises at the Nellis base.
Since the mid-1990s, Smokie SAM equipment has been used in the training process to train pilots in visual detection of anti-aircraft missile launch and as close as possible to a combat situation, with a Cube air defense missile system signal emitter and a pyrotechnic simulator of missiles launched. This stationary equipment operates at the test site in the vicinity of the Nellis airbase in Nevada.
In 2005, ESCO Technologies in 2005 created the AN / VPQ-1 TRTG mobile radar simulator, which reproduces the operation of the Kub, Osa and ZSU-23-4 air defense systems.
The AN / VPQ-1 TRTG radar equipment, placed on various mobile chassis, is usually used in conjunction with the GTR-18 Smokey unguided missiles, which visually simulate the launch of missiles, which in turn makes it possible to bring the situation in the exercises as close as possible to the real one. The most common modification is mounted on an off-road pickup chassis that tows a trailer loaded with simulated rockets. At the moment, the AN / VPQ-1 TRTG mobile kits are actively used in the armed forces of the United States and NATO allies.
Although the opinion is widespread among ordinary people about the extraordinary effectiveness of MANPADS, it is grossly exaggerated. In real combat, the probability of hitting air targets when launching anti-aircraft missiles of portable systems is relatively small. Nevertheless, the US Department of Defense, due to the high prevalence and high mobility of such complexes, launched a program to create simulators that allow, when entering the coverage area, to assess the likelihood of being hit by MANPADS and to practice the evasion maneuver.
A further step was the creation by AEgis Technologies, together with the US Army Aviation and Missile Center (AMRDEC), of a towed remote-controlled installation MANPADS with a reusable surrogate MANPADS missile system equipped with an optoelectronic guidance system.
The main purpose of the MANPADS installation is to train aircraft and helicopter crews in evasive maneuvers and to practice the use of countermeasures. When excluding hitting the aircraft, special attention was paid to the realism and coincidence of velocities and trajectories with real missiles and the possibility of their repeated use. Also, the thermal signature of the training rocket engine should have been close to those actually used in combat. The missile's microprocessor is programmed so that under no circumstances should it hit the aircraft. At the end of the active phase of the rocket flight, the parachute rescue system is activated. After replacing the solid fuel motor, electric batteries and testing, it can be reused.
Currently, American test centers and proving grounds have more than 50 simulators of radar and missile guidance stations, as well as jammers. These rather complex and expensive systems are used in the course of testing new types of aviation equipment, avionics and aviation weapons. In addition, the stations that reproduce the operation of enemy detection systems, electronic warfare and anti-aircraft missile systems, make it possible to maximize the realism of training to overcome enemy air defense and increase the chances of pilots' survival in a combat situation. It is quite obvious that the leadership of the American military department, based on the existing experience and despite the significant costs, is trying to prepare the flight crew to the necessary extent for a possible collision with an enemy with anti-aircraft systems of Soviet and Russian production.
