Since its inception, military aviation has strived to increase the speed and altitude of aircraft. The increase in flight altitude made it possible to get out of the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft artillery, the combination of high altitude and speed made it possible to gain advantages in air combat.
A new milestone in the increase in the altitude and flight speed of combat aircraft was the appearance of jet engines. For a while it seemed that aviation had only one way - to fly faster and higher. This was confirmed by air battles during the Korean War, in which Soviet MiG-15 fighters and American F-80, F-84 and F-86 Saber fighters clashed.
Everything changed with the emergence and development of a new class of weapons - anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM).
The era of the air defense system
The first samples of air defense systems were created in the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The greatest successes were achieved by German developers who were able to bring the Reintochter, Hs-117 Schmetterling and Wasserfall air defense systems to the pilot production stage.
But air defense systems received significant distribution only in the 50s of the XX century with the appearance of the Soviet C-25 / C-75 air defense systems, the American MIM-3 Nike Ajax and the British Bristol Bloodhound.
The capabilities of the air defense system were clearly demonstrated on May 1, 1960, when an American high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft U-2 was shot down at an altitude of about 20 kilometers, which had previously carried out reconnaissance flights over the territory of the USSR many times, remaining inaccessible to fighter aircraft.
However, the first large-scale use of the air defense system was carried out during the Vietnam War. The S-75 air defense systems transferred by the Soviet side forced the US aviation to go to low altitudes. This, in turn, exposed the aircraft to anti-aircraft artillery fire, which accounted for about 60% of the downed American planes and helicopters.
Some delay in aviation was given by an increase in speed - as an example, we can cite the American strategic supersonic reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which, due to its high speed, over 3 M, and an altitude of up to 25,000 meters, was never shot down by an air defense system, including during the time of the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, the SR-71 did not fly over the territory of the USSR, only occasionally capturing a small section of Soviet airspace near the border.
In the future, the departure of aviation to low and ultra-low altitudes became predetermined. The improvement of the air defense system made the flights of combat aircraft at high altitudes almost impossible. Perhaps this largely influenced the abandonment of projects of such high-altitude high-speed bombers as the Soviet T-4 (product 100) of the Sukhoi Design Bureau or the American North American XB-70 Valkyrie. The main tactics of combat aviation was flying at low altitudes in the terrain bend mode and delivering strikes using radar "dead zones" and limiting the characteristics of anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAMs).
The response decision was the appearance in the armament of the air defense forces of the short-range air defense system of the S-125 type, capable of hitting high-speed low-flying targets. In the future, the number of types of air defense systems capable of dealing with low-flying targets steadily increased - the Strela-2M air defense system, the Tunguska anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex (ZRPK), portable anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS) appeared. Nevertheless, there was nowhere to leave the low heights of aviation. At medium and high altitudes, the defeat of SAM aircraft was almost inevitable, and the use of low altitudes and terrain, a sufficiently high speed and night time, gave the aircraft a chance to successfully attack the target.
The quintessence of the development of air defense systems was the newest Soviet and then Russian complexes of the S-300 / S-400 family, capable of hitting air targets at a distance of up to 400 km. Even more outstanding characteristics should be possessed by the promising S-500 air defense system, which should be adopted for service in the coming years.
"Invisible aircraft" and electronic warfare
The response of aircraft manufacturers was the widespread introduction of technologies to reduce the radar and thermal signature of combat aircraft. Despite the fact that the theoretical prerequisites for the development of unobtrusive aircraft were created by the Soviet theoretical physicist and teacher in the field of diffraction of electromagnetic waves Peter Yakovlevich Ufimtsev, they did not receive recognition at home, but were carefully studied "overseas", as a result of which, in the environment The first aircraft were created in the strictest secrecy, the main distinguishing feature of which was the maximum use of technologies to reduce the visibility - the F-117 tactical bomber and the B-2 strategic bomber.
It is necessary to understand that the technologies for reducing the visibility do not make the aircraft "invisible", as one might think from the common expression "invisible aircraft", but significantly reduce the detection range and the range of capture of the aircraft by the missile homing heads. Nevertheless, the improvement of the radar of modern air defense systems forces unobtrusive aircraft to "cuddle" to the ground. Also, inconspicuous aircraft can be easily detected visually in the daytime, which became obvious after the destruction of the newest F-117 by the ancient S-125 air defense system during the war in Yugoslavia.
In the first "stealth aircraft", flight performance and operational reliability of aircraft were sacrificed to stealth technologies. In the fifth generation aircraft F-22 and F-35, stealth technologies are combined with fairly high flight characteristics. Over time, stealth technologies began to spread not only to manned aircraft, but also to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles (CR) and other air attack weapons (SVN).
Another solution was the active use of electronic warfare (EW), the use of which significantly affected the range of detection and destruction of air defense systems. Electronic warfare equipment can be placed both on the carrier itself and on specialized electronic warfare aircraft or false targets such as MALD.
All of the above, together, significantly complicated the life of air defense because of the significantly reduced time for detecting and attacking targets. From the developers of the air defense system, new solutions were required to change the situation in their favor.
AFAR and SAM with ARLGSN
And such solutions have been found. First of all, the possibility of detecting targets of the air defense missile system was increased due to the introduction of radar with an active phased antenna array (AFAR). Radars with AFAR have significantly greater capabilities in comparison with other types of radars in detecting targets, isolating them against the background of interference, and the possibility of jamming the radar itself.
Secondly, missiles appeared with an active radar antenna array, as which AFAR can also be used. The use of missiles with ARLGSN allows you to attack targets with almost all ammunition of the missile defense system without taking into account the number of target illumination channels of the radar air defense system.
But much more important is the possibility of issuing target designation of anti-aircraft missiles with AFAR from external sources, for example, from early-range radar detection aircraft (AWACS), airships and balloons or AWACS UAVs. This makes it possible to equalize the detection range of low-flying targets with the detection range of high-altitude targets, neutralizing the advantages of low-altitude flight.
In addition to missiles with ARLGSN, capable of being guided by external target designation, new solutions appear that can significantly complicate the actions of aviation at low altitudes.
New threats at low altitudes
SAMs with gas-dynamic / steam-jet control, provided, among other things, by transversely located micromotors, are gaining popularity. This allows missiles to realize overloads of the order of 60 G to destroy high-speed maneuverable targets.
Guided projectiles and projectiles with remote detonation on the trajectory for automatic cannons, which can effectively hit high-speed low-flying targets, have been developed. Equipping anti-aircraft artillery with high-speed guidance drives will provide them with a minimum reaction time to suddenly appearing targets.
Over time, a serious threat will become, with an instant reaction, air defense systems based on laser weapons, which will complement traditional anti-aircraft guided missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. First of all, their target will be guided and unguided aviation munitions, but carriers can also be attacked by them if they find themselves in the affected area.
The likelihood of the appearance of other air defense systems cannot be ruled out - small-sized automated air defense systems operating on the principle of a kind of "minefields" for low-flying aviation, "air" air defense systems based on UAVs with a long flight duration or based on airships / balloons, small-sized UAVs-kamikaze, or other so far looking exotic solutions.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that low-altitude aviation flights can become much more dangerous than it was even during the Second World War or the Vietnam War
The story unfolds in a spiral
The increased likelihood of hitting aircraft at low altitude may force them to return to high altitudes. How realistic and effective is it, and what technical solutions can contribute to this?
The first advantage of aircraft with a high flight altitude is gravity - the higher the aircraft is, the larger and more expensive the missile defense system must be to defeat it (to provide the necessary energy for the missile), the ammunition load of the air defense missile system, which includes only long-range missiles, will always be much less than the medium air defense missile system. and short range. The range of destruction declared for the air defense missile system is not guaranteed at all permissible heights - in fact, the affected area of the air defense missile system is a dome, and the higher the height, the smaller the affected area becomes.
The second advantage is the density of the atmosphere - the higher the altitude, the lower the density of the air, which allows the aircraft to move at speeds that are unacceptable when flying at low altitudes. And the higher the speed, the faster the aircraft can overcome the zone of destruction of the air defense missile system, which is already reduced due to the high flight altitude.
Of course, one cannot rely only on altitude and speed, since if that were enough, the projects of the T-4 high-speed bombers of the Sukhoi Design Bureau and the XB-70 Valkyrie would have long been implemented, in one form or another, and the SR-reconnaissance aircraft 71 Blackbird would have received a decent development, but this has not happened yet.
The next factor in the survival of high-altitude aircraft, however, as well as low-altitude ones, will be the widespread use of technologies to reduce the visibility and the use of advanced electronic warfare systems. High-speed high-altitude aircraft will require the development of coatings that can withstand high-temperature heating. In addition, the shape of the hull of high-speed aircraft can be more focused on solving aerodynamic problems than stealth problems. In combination, this can lead to the fact that the visibility of high-altitude high-speed aircraft can be higher than that of aircraft intended for low-altitude flights at subsonic speeds.
The capabilities of means of reducing the signature and electronic warfare systems can significantly reduce, if not "nullify", the appearance of radio-optical phased antenna arrays (ROFAR). However, so far there is no reliable information about the possibilities and timing of the implementation of this technology.
However, the main factor increasing the survivability of high-altitude aircraft will be the use of advanced defensive systems. Prospective defensive systems of combat aircraft, ensuring the detection and destruction of surface-to-air (W-E) and air-to-air (V-B) missiles, will presumably include:
- optoelectronic multispectral systems for detecting missiles Z-V and V-V, such as the EOTS system used on the F-35 fighter, most likely integrated with conformal AFAR spaced around the body;
- anti-missiles, similar to the CUDA anti-missile missiles being developed in the United States;
- laser defensive weapons, which are considered as a promising means of defense for combat and transport aircraft of the US Air Force.
Application tactics
The proposed tactics for the use of promising combat aircraft will include movement at high altitudes, of the order of 15-20 thousand meters, and at a speed of the order of 2-2.5 M (2400-3000 km / h), in non-afterburning engine mode. When entering the affected area and detecting an air defense missile system attack, the aircraft increases its speed, depending on advances in engine building, these can be numbers of the order of 3.5-5 M (4200-6000 km / h), in order to get out of the affected area as quickly as possible SAM.
The detection zone and the affected area of the aircraft are minimized as much as possible by the active use of electronic warfare equipment, it is possible that in this way a part of the attacking missiles can also be eliminated.
The defeat of the target at high altitude and flight speed makes it as difficult as possible for the Z-V and V-V missiles, from which significant energy is required. Often, when firing at the maximum range, missiles move by inertia, which significantly limits their maneuverability, and, therefore, makes them an easy target for anti-missiles and laser weapons.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the indicated tactics of using combat aircraft at high altitudes and speeds corresponds as much as possible to the previously proposed Concept of a Combat Aircraft of 2050.
With a high probability, the basis for the survival of promising combat aircraft will be active defensive systems capable of resisting enemy weapons. Conventionally, if earlier it was possible to talk about the confrontation between the sword and the shield, then in the future it can be interpreted as a confrontation between the sword and the sword, when the defensive systems will actively oppose the enemy's weapons by destroying ammunition, and can also be used as offensive weapons.
If there are active defensive systems, then why not stay at low altitudes? At low altitudes, the number of air defense systems operating on the aircraft will be an order of magnitude greater. The SAMs themselves are smaller, more maneuverable, with energy not spent on climbing 15-20 km, plus anti-aircraft artillery with guided projectiles and air defense systems based on laser weapons will be added to them. The lack of a stock in height will not give the defensive systems time to respond; it will be much more difficult to hit small-sized high-speed ammunition.
Will any aircraft remain at low altitudes? Yes - UAVs, UAVs and more UAVs. Mostly small, since the larger the size, the easier it is to detect and destroy. For operation on a remote battlefield, they will most likely be delivered by a carrier, as we talked about in the article US Air Force Combat Gremlins: Rebirth of the Aircraft Carrier Concept, but the carriers themselves will most likely move at high altitudes.
The consequences of the departure of military aviation to great heights
To a certain extent, it will be a one-sided game. As mentioned earlier, gravity will always be on the side of aviation, therefore, to hit high-altitude targets, massive, large-sized and expensive missiles will be required. In turn, the anti-missile missiles, which will be necessary to defeat such missiles, will have significantly smaller dimensions and cost.
If the return of military aircraft to high altitudes takes place, then we can expect the appearance of multi-stage missiles, possibly with a multiple warhead containing several homing warheads with individual guidance. In part, such solutions have already been implemented, for example, in the British portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS) Starstreak, where the rocket carries three small-sized warheads individually guided in a laser beam.
On the other hand, the smaller size of the warheads will not allow them to accommodate an effective ARLGSN, which will simplify the task of electronic warfare systems to combat such warheads. Also, smaller dimensions will complicate the installation of anti-laser protection on warheads, which in turn will simplify their defeat with onboard defensive laser weapons.
Thus, we can conclude that the transition of military aviation from flights in the mode of enveloping the terrain to flights at high altitudes and speeds may well be justified and will cause a new stage of confrontation, now no longer "sword and shield", but rather, "sword and sword ".
