In modern realities, countries are paying more and more attention to the issues of air and missile defense. An army that is armed with systems that provide reliable protection of troops and ground targets from air strikes gains a huge advantage in modern conflicts. Interest in air defense and missile defense systems is growing, and this topic is accompanied by a large stream of news. The most discussed of them are Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system and Saudi Arabia's statements about the desire to purchase this system, after which the United States almost immediately approved a deal to sell its THAAD anti-missile system to the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia's interest in such a system is understandable. On December 19, 2017, Saudi air defense intercepted a Burkan-2 ballistic missile launched by the Houthis from Yemen in the south of Riyadh, which was similar to the one that was shot down near the capital of the kingdom on November 4, 2017. Whether the missile was actually shot down or whether it simply deviated from the course and fell in uninhabited areas is not known for certain. No one was reportedly injured in the incident. The Houthis themselves admitted the fact of a missile strike. According to the group, the target of the launch was the royal palace of al-Yamam in the capital of Saudi Arabia.
This attack was the second carried out from the territory of Yemen in the past few months. In Yemen, the military conflict continues, which is comparable in scale to the hostilities in Syria. Saudi Arabia acts as the main ideologist of the military operation, which is being carried out on the territory of a neighboring state. The ballistic missile used by the Houthis is an Iranian-made Burkan-2. The missile has a detachable warhead (unlike the Burkan-1, which is a modernized Soviet R-17). Judging by its tactical and technical characteristics, this ballistic missile can indeed reach Riyadh, as well as numerous oil fields in the country. On December 23, 2017, the UN Security Council condemned this rocket attack on the Saudi capital by Yemeni rebels.
The threat to Saudi Arabia is also posed by the Soviet-made operational-tactical missiles R-17 "Scud", as well as the tactical missiles "Kakhir" and "Zelzal", created on the basis of another Soviet missile system "Luna-M". The Houthis are also quite actively using these missiles to strike the territory of the kingdom, in some cases they really lead to a large number of casualties among the military. The Houthis and converted missiles of the S-75 air defense systems are used, not intended for striking ground targets.
Against this background, Riyadh's interest in modern air defense and missile defense systems is quite understandable. Saudi Arabia is showing a substantive interest in the American mobile missile defense system THAAD, and options were also voiced for the purchase of a modern S-400 Triumph air defense system in Russia. It is believed that the issue of the supply of Russian air defense systems was discussed during the personal meeting of the King of Saudi Arabia with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in October 2017, where a positive decision was reached on their sale.
The news sparked interest in comparing the two THAAD and S-400 systems. However, this comparison is not correct, since we are talking about systems with different specializations. The American system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is a mobile ground-based anti-missile system designed for high-altitude transatmospheric destruction of medium-range ballistic missiles. At the same time, the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system is designed primarily to destroy aerodynamic targets (aircraft, helicopters, drones, cruise missiles), its capabilities to combat ballistic targets are limited in range and height. At the same time, of course, the Russian system is more universal. The capabilities of THAAD in the fight against maneuverable targets and aircraft are minimal, while such use of a missile defense system would be tantamount to hammering nails with a "microscope", especially given the cost of American interceptor missiles.
The THAAD mobile ground-based anti-missile system, designed for high-altitude transatmospheric interception of medium-range missiles when creating a zone missile defense system in a theater of operations, has been developed in the United States since 1992. The system was developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The cost of R&D on the creation of an anti-missile complex is estimated at about $ 15 billion. Currently, the THAAD anti-missile system is in service with the United States and the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, the battery of the THAAD complex was deployed in South Korea, and their deployment in Japan is also planned. The appearance of the THAAD complex in South Korea was explained by the United States by the need to protect the country from a missile threat from the DPRK, while China and Russia reacted extremely negatively to this step.
The THAAD anti-missile system was originally designed to combat medium and short-range ballistic missiles. The system is capable of destroying ballistic targets at an altitude that is prohibitive for conventional air defense systems - 150 kilometers and a distance of up to 200 kilometers. With the help of this mobile complex, it is possible to create the first line of the zonal missile defense. The characteristics of this anti-missile system allow it to sequentially fire at one ballistic target with two anti-missiles on the basis of the "launch - estimate - launch" principle, that is, the second missile is launched if the first one failed to hit the target. In the event that the second missile cannot hit a ballistic target, the usual air defense system - Patriot air defense system, enters into action, to which target designations are received from the THAAD radar system for the rocket that has broken through. According to the calculations of American specialists, the probability of hitting a ballistic missile by such an echeloned missile defense system is more than 0.96 (while the probability of hitting a target with one THAAD antimissile is estimated at 0.9).
Anti-missile THAAD consists of a warhead and an engine, the only (detachable) stage is a solid-propellant starting engine. The characteristics of this engine make it possible to accelerate the missile to a speed of 2800 m / s, which made it possible to realize the possibility of re-firing at a ballistic target with a second interceptor missile. The missile's warhead is a highly maneuverable direct hit interceptor, also called a "kill vehicle".
All this makes it obvious that THAAD differs from the S-400 and the obvious tension in comparing the two systems. The newest 40N6E anti-aircraft missile of the Russian Triumph complex is the most long-range missile of the complex, the range of targets hit with it increases to 400 kilometers, but this is about aerodynamic purposes. The range of destruction of ballistic targets using the S-400 complex is limited to 60 kilometers, and the flight altitude of the targets hit is limited to 30 kilometers. At the same time, experts note that the indicator of the height of the defeat, when it comes to intercepting operational-tactical missiles, is not a critical indicator.“In theater missile defense, the destruction of targets occurs on descending trajectories, and not in space,” said Lieutenant General Aytech Bizhev, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for the joint air defense system of the CIS member states, in an interview with RIA Novosti.
It is easy to see that the American THAAD has a noticeable advantage in the range and height of destruction of ballistic targets, which is due to the tasks for which it was created - the defeat of medium-range ballistic missiles. At the same time, the Russian S-400 air defense system with a shorter range in height is armed with missiles with a longer range of action to destroy all types of aerodynamic targets - at a distance of up to 400 kilometers and tactical ballistic targets at a range of up to 60 kilometers, flying at a speed of up to 4800 m / s.
The second important difference between THAAD and the S-400 is the method of hitting the target. The American missile hits the target with a kinetic effect, that is, it hits the missile itself. Its warhead is a highly maneuverable interceptor. It is a technically sophisticated device that searches for, captures and destroys a target, using only the kinetic energy of a high-speed impact. One of the main features of this interceptor is a gyro-stabilized multispectral infrared homing head (IR-seeker). In addition to the IR-seeker, the THAAD single-stage missile interceptor is equipped with an inertial command control system, a power source, a computer, and its own maneuvering and orientation propulsion system. At the same time, the anti-aircraft missiles of the Russian S-400 Triumph air defense system hit air targets due to a cloud of debris formed after the missile's warhead detonated in the immediate vicinity of the target.
A common feature of all modern air defense and missile defense systems is the requirement imposed on them to destroy the combat load of a potential enemy's attack weapons. The result of intercepting the target should be, for example, guaranteeing the exclusion of a drop in the combat load of the attacking missile directly in the area of the defended object. This possibility can be completely excluded only when the target's combat load is destroyed in the process of intercepting it with an anti-aircraft missile. This result can be achieved in two ways: a direct hit of the missile in the compartment of the warhead of the target, or by combining a small miss and effective impact on the target with a cloud of fragments of the warhead of an anti-aircraft guided missile. In the USA, the first approach is chosen for THAAD, in Russia for the S-400, the second.
It is also worth noting the fact that the S-400 can fire 360 degrees, while the THAAD has a limited firing sector. For example, the Russian 9M96E and 9M96E2 anti-aircraft missiles, optimized to combat modern precision weapons, cruise missiles and ballistic targets, including stealthy ones, use a “cold” vertical launch. Immediately before the launch of their main engine, the rockets are thrown out of the container to a height of over 30 meters. After climbing to this height, the anti-aircraft missile with the help of the gas-dynamic system tilts towards the given target.
An important difference between the two complexes is also their radar. The American system has the best vision. The detection range of the AN / TPY-2 radar is 1000 kilometers versus 600 kilometers for the S-400 complex. Multifunctional radar AN / TPY-2 operates in the X-band and consists of 25 344 active APMs. This is a radar with an active phased array (AFAR). AFAR consists of active emitting elements, each of which consists of an emitting element and an active device (transceiver module - PPM). The very high resolution and vigilance of the American radar is achieved by a huge number of PPMs and a sophisticated signal processing algorithm. At the same time, the American radar costs a pretty penny, the cost of an innovative radar can exceed $ 500 million.
Radar AN / TPY-2
Experts believe that Saudi Arabia, despite the decision to purchase the THAAD missile defense system, can also purchase Russian S-400 systems. These systems will not be able to be controlled from a single command post in an automated mode, but this does not exclude their combat use separately. The systems can be deployed in different parts of the country or even within the framework of protecting one important object, while solving different tasks and, thus, complementing each other, military expert Mikhail Khodarenok said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
According to him, the desire of Saudi Arabia to buy both American and Russian systems can be dictated by different considerations. For example, after Operation Desert Storm, during which the French anti-aircraft missile systems in service with the Iraqi air defense system suddenly became inoperative, potential buyers treat weapons purchased in the West with some degree of caution. Mikhail Khodorenok notes that American weapons may contain "bookmarks", for example, the F-16 of the Jordanian Air Force cannot shoot down the F-16 of the Israeli Air Force. In this case, the purchase of the S-400 can help diversify the risks. If American tactical ballistic missiles or medium-range missiles are used for strikes on the territory of Saudi Arabia, then the S-400 will be able to shoot them down.
Experts believe that the Saudi Arabian contract with the United States is not an alternative to the contract with Russia on the S-400, since both systems are not mutually exclusive, but complementary, they can be used autonomously. As a means of air defense against aerodynamic targets, the S-400 is significantly superior to the American Patriot air defense systems.
Price can also play a role. The cost of the S-400 division with 8 launchers is about $ 500 million. So in December 2017, the details of the contract for the supply of S-400 Triumph air defense systems to Turkey became known. Ankara should receive 4 S-400 divisions for a total of about $ 2.5 billion. At the same time, the Pentagon's Office for Defense Cooperation and Security announced that the cost of the deal with Saudi Arabia for the supply of THAAD missile defense systems is about $ 15 billion. Under the contract, the kingdom will receive from the United States 44 launchers, 16 command posts, 7 radars, and 360 interceptor missiles for this complex.
