THE FRENCH FACTOR IN THE MILITARIZATION OF EASTERN EUROPE. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE CSTO WESTERN AIR DEFENSE
Immediately after the unanimous approval of the next package of anti-Russian sanctions by the American Senate on June 15, 2017, official Paris, represented by the speaker of the French Foreign Ministry, sharply criticized this decision due to its fundamental differences with the interests of leading Western European states. This is not surprising, since the new list of restrictions inflicts a significant economic blow solely on the energy security of the European Union. In particular, such strategically important French companies in the energy sector as Engine, which is far from being the last in the Nord Stream 2 project, and Total, which owns a 20% stake, fall under the obsessive overseas ice rink. enterprises for the production of liquefied natural gas "Yamal-LNG" and 50% of the reserves of the Kharyaga oil field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.
Despite the dissatisfied rhetoric of Paris, the command of the French Armed Forces, reintroduced into the military structures of the North Atlantic Alliance in April 2009, is successfully participating in the active militarization of the Baltic countries bordering Russia. So, back in August 2016, the French Air Force command transferred a flight of 4 Mirage-2000-5 multipurpose fighters to the Lithuanian airbase in Siauliai to patrol the airspace over the Baltic Sea, as well as along the Lithuanian-Belarusian air border. Moreover, on March 29, 2017, 4 French MBT AMX-56 "Leclerc" arrived at military facilities in Estonia, which are the most network-centric tanks of Western European design with the ICONE TIS tank information and control system and the FCS "Savan-20", 13 infantry fighting vehicles VBCI, as well as dozens of VAB and VBL AFVs. All these "bells" clearly indicate that regardless of the reason for the escalation of the military conflict between Russia and NATO in the Eastern European theater of operations, the French Armed Forces, especially the Air Force, will be "tightly" drawn into it.
It is worth noting that in recent years Russia has taken a number of countermeasures aimed at countering the growing NATO strike "fist" in Eastern Europe. In particular, the maximum possible emphasis was placed on strengthening the air defense forces of the Republic of Belarus, which is the second strategic line of defense of the CSTO, along with the Kaliningrad region, in the western air direction. For example, within the framework of the Union State and the CSTO, over the past few years, Russia has donated 2 S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile battalions to the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus, as well as 4 battalions of early S-300PS air defense systems.
If you look at the map and assess the length of the borders of Belarus with the NATO member states, it becomes clear that, taking into account the 12 S-300PT / PS and S-300V divisions, as well as 4 battalions of the Buk air defense missile system, this number will be enough to create two full-fledged anti-missile defense lines on the western approaches to the CSTO. And most importantly, already now a reliable air defense-missile defense system can be provided not only for the medium-altitude and high-altitude sections of the air border of the Republic of Belarus, but also for low-altitude ones, because it is known that to create a continuous radar field between the S-300/400 divisions (taking into account the use of universal towers 40V6M and radio horizon phenomena), the latter should be located at a distance of 55-65 km from each other, therefore, to create one western boundary of low-altitude air defense, as applied to Belarus, 10 S-300PS or S-400 divisions are enough.
To cover the "dead zones" of "Three hundred / four hundred", described by 5 - 3-kilometer radii from launchers 5P85S and 5P85TE2, Belarusian air defense units have at least 12 4-channel short-range air defense systems "Tor-M2E", as well as some the number of at least perfect T38 Stilet air defense systems developed by the Belarusian research and production association Tetrahedr. The enormous importance of maintaining a high combat potential of the Air Force and Air Defense of Belarus is easily explained by the "space" rates of renewal of the Polish Air Force with promising long-range tactical cruise missiles AGM-158A / B JASSM / -ER. This high-precision weapon with an RCS of about 0.05-0.1m2 and a flight height of about 20-50 m, if launched over Poland or Lithuania, can reach almost any strategically important Russian facility within Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh. JASSM-ER is a much more subtle and insidious product than Tomahawks.
The latest news about the modernization of the Belarusian Air Force was the details of the contract for the acquisition of a squadron of 12 Russian Su-30SMs with a total value of $ 600 million, which will be put into service by 2021. Despite the fact that the “preferential” cost of each aircraft will amount to about $ 50 million for Minsk, favorable credit conditions and a slowdown in the supply of fighters will be applied to minimize the burden on the Belarusian economy. Assessing the current state of the fighter aircraft fleet of the Belarusian Air Force, it becomes clear that this contract should have been signed back in 2013 - 2014, when the saturation of the Baltic air bases with Mirages, Typhoons and F-16C Block 52+ was minimal. Now it will be very difficult to make a "turning point" in the balance of power, and especially when only one squadron of 12 aircraft has been ordered. And this is in the strategically important western air direction, where the enemy's superiority is tenfold! But here the problem is not so significant, because when the slightest signs of an approaching escalation appear in the airspace of the Republic of Belarus, several fighter squadrons of the Russian Aerospace Forces will instantly appear at once, represented by the Su-35S, Su-27SM and MiG-35 fighters, which are significantly ahead of the F-16C Block 52+ and "Typhoons", which are in service with the Air Forces of Poland and Germany.
Much more trouble in this case can be created by the actively developing program of modernization of the French multi-role fighters of the 4 ++ generation “Rafale”. The French Air Force currently has approximately 110 operational Rafale F2 / 3s. Since 2013, some of these vehicles have received on-board radars with RBE2 AESA active headlights instead of the previous generation radars with RBE2 PESA passive PFAR. The energy parameters of the new version with AFAR are about 65% higher than those of the PFAR radar. If "Rafali F2 / 3" with RBE2 PESA radar detect a target of the Su-30SM type at a distance of up to 120 km, and the MiG-29SMT - up to 90 km, without having serious advantages in long-range air combat even over the Su-27SM, then "Rafali" with the new RBE2 AESA radars, they can detect them at a distance of 140-190, and this completely changes the situation. If we compare this version of "Rafale" with the Su-30SM, then we get the following picture: the radar Н011М "Bars" has the same energy potential with the French RBE2 AESA, but due to about 7-10 times less EPR "Rafal" (1 versus 12 m2), the French pilot will detect the "Drying" much earlier (at a distance of 200 km), while the crew of our fighter will detect the "Frenchman" at a distance of 140-150 km.
Today, this shortcoming of the Su-30SM in front of the Rafal will not significantly affect the outcome of a hypothetical air duel, since the MICA-IR / EM medium-range airborne missile system remains the main weapon of air superiority at the Rafals. These air-to-air missiles are equipped with an AD4A advanced active radar seeker (ARGSN) operating in the Ku-band of centimeter waves (similar to the ARGSN used in the Aster-15/30 interceptor missiles), have a gas-jet thrust vector control system, allowing to maneuver with overloads of more than 50 units; but they also have a very noticeable drawback - the range of destruction of air targets in the front hemisphere reaches only 60 - 65 km (less than that of the first modification of the R-77). Against the background of the short range of MICA missiles, our Su-30SM are equipped with more modern RVV-SD (Product 170-1), the range of which reaches 110 km. Thus, neither a powerful onboard radar nor a sufficiently small radar signature of the airframe can save the Rafale modifications in combat units.
The situation will be even more unpleasant for French pilots if the Su-30SM or Su-35S, equipped with containers for individual and group protection of the L-265 Khibiny-M / U electronic warfare systems, act as rivals. The "Proran" passive electronic reconnaissance station attached to the complexes will accurately determine the frequency range of the RBE2 AESA radar, after which the L-265 emitting modules will start jamming, reducing the range of the Rafalev airborne radar by 2-3 times. But Dassault Aviation has no plans to stop at the Rafale of the F2 / 3 modifications.
So, on June 20, 2017, the military-technical news resource defense-aerospace.com, with reference to the French Ministry of Defense, announced that the Rafale F3-R multi-role fighter had achieved operational combat readiness by 2018; in the same year, the adoption of machines for the armament of combat units of the French Air Force should begin. The F3-R modification provides for the integration of an additional hardware package for avionics, which adapts the fighter to the use of the TALIOS optical-electronic sighting system operating in television and infrared sighting channels. The container is placed on an additional suspension unit under the air channel of the right air intake. A high-quality optical system for increasing the television channel, together with digital zoom, allows for a total magnification of 60-70X (the viewing angle is 0.77x0.58 °). Under favorable atmospheric conditions, the TV channel of the TALIOS container makes it possible to identify the type of the tank at a distance of 40-50 km and the corvette / frigate - up to 70 km.
The infrared channel has a total zoom (optical + digital) of the order of 45-50X, which is very good for thermal imaging sights. Infrared matrix "TALIOS" operates in the middle wavelength range with a length of 3-5 microns, which is excellent for detecting not only "hot" ground objects, but also for objects whose temperature differs only by 3 - 5 ° C from the environment. For example, with a high degree of probability, barely warm areas of the engine-transmission compartments of enemy armored vehicles, which arrived at the deployment site a few hours ago, will be detected, and spent artillery installations, whose guns are still warm from powder gases, will also be detected without difficulty. TALIOS is also capable of operating in the air-to-air mode, and therefore can perfectly complement the capabilities of the OSF optoelectronic complex, the sensor of which is located in front of the cockpit canopy. The combined use of passive optoelectronic sensors "TALIOS" and OSF will turn the "Rafale F3-R" into an even more formidable tactical combat vehicle that does not reveal its location until the last moment due to the turned off RBE2 AESA radar and a rather small EPR in comparison with the Su-30SM or Su-27SM. The only drawback of optics is only a significant dependence on the meteorological situation.
The most important part of the Rafale multi-role fighters of the F3-R modification is the possibility of using long-range missiles MBDA "Meteor" with an integral ramjet engine. As we already managed to find out in the course of previous work, the data of the URVV have the ability to accelerate to a maximum speed of 4800 km / h in the final flight phase, which is only possible for the Chinese PL-12D, PL-21, as well as experimental PL-15 with an estimated range 250-300 km. So, if you "twist" the AIM-120D at a distance of 150-160 km from the carrier will be relatively easy due to the loss of speed up to 2000 km / h, especially in the case of imposing a "catch-up" trajectory with maneuvering, then get rid of the "direct-flow" URVV by the same method "Meteor" at a distance of 140 km from the launch point is unlikely to work. At the moment, our fighter aircraft fleet, deployed at airbases in the European part of Russia, can oppose Meteora exclusively with suspended electronic countermeasures of the Khibiny-M / U family, standard dipole reflectors, as well as ultra-long-range air combat missiles R-37 / RVV -BD.
Many can immediately focus on the presence of RVV-BD and try to convince readers that these missiles on the Su-35S and MiG-31BM are enough to gain complete superiority over the "small-caliber" "Rafal" with its "Meteors", but We hasten to upset: RVV-BD, with all its 280 kilometers of range, is designed mainly to intercept low-maneuverable supersonic and hypersonic ballistic objects, as well as AWACS and tactical aircraft with heavy missile and bomb "equipment" at a range of more than 150 km (maximum overload by means of R-37 / RVV-BD targets is 7-8G). Moreover, this huge midship interceptor missile has a huge ballistic braking coefficient. Consequently, it will be extremely difficult to shoot down such a "nimble" target as "Rafale" with the help of the R-37. The modernized "Rafale F3-R" will receive a huge advantage in terms of gaining air superiority over the Su-30SM, Su-35 and MiG-35 until the domestic URVV with the RVV-AE-PD integral ramjet rocket engine goes into large-scale production ("Product-180PD"), and one can only dream about it - there is no information on the development of the project since 2013.
As for the likelihood of close air combat between our fighters and the Rafale F3-R, the usual picture remains. The Rafal's glider is built according to the tailless aerodynamic design and is equipped with a movable front horizontal tail, which increases the angular rate of turn in pitch to 27-30 deg / s, which is slightly better than that of the MiG-29SMT and Su-27SM (22 and 23 deg / s, respectively), not equipped with a thrust vector deflection system. These machines will be able to win the "dump for dogs" from the "Frenchman" due to the ability to perform the "Pugachev Cobra" and the high flight performance of the R-73 melee missiles, as well as the experience of the pilots. It is rather difficult to conduct a long "energetic" close air battle with the "Rafal", since its thrust-to-weight ratio at a normal take-off weight reaches 1.1 kgf / kg, and this allows you to constantly maintain a high speed for maneuvering. Moreover, like all "tailless" (remember the aerobatics of the "Mirage-2000C / -5"), the "Rafale" has simply stunning angular roll rate, which is 1.5 times higher than that of the Su-27 and MiG families. -29, which makes it possible to move the vehicle to the required direction of the combat turn much more quickly.
Su-30SM and Su-35S multifunctional super-maneuverable fighters of the 4 ++ generation, equipped with a thrust vector deflection system, can easily "twist" the "Rafale F3-R" in close air combat. In particular, the Su-35S, even without the use of OVT, has increased maneuvering energy and angular rate of turn in comparison with various modifications of the Su-27 and Su-30, thanks to the use of 16% more powerful AL-41F1S turbojet engines with a total thrust of 29,000 kgf, due to which the thrust-to-weight ratio was set at 1, 15 kgf / kg. But as you remember, in air confrontations of the XXI century, it will be extremely rare to reach battles within the limits of visual visibility: a long-range "duel" will usually reach its apogee to the limits of visual visibility, and, thanks to our delay with the RVV-AE-PD project, "Rafale F3-R "already in 2018 will receive serious privileges in possible air clashes over the Baltics, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
