The radio-technical troops of the Aerospace Forces of Russia are a key source of information about the tactical air situation for anti-aircraft missile divisions, brigades and regiments of the Aerospace Forces, as well as for military air defense systems. The distribution of information received by radar detectors, individual radio intelligence radars and multi-element / multi-band complexes of the "Sky-M" type is carried out by means of automated control systems for anti-aircraft missile regiments "Polyana-D4M1" and "Baikal-1ME". The latter give out the exact coordinates of targets to the combat control points of the S-300PM1, S-300V / 4 and Buk-M1 / 2/3 complexes in an already distributed configuration, which significantly reduces the response time of the air defense missile system to suddenly detected threats, and also excludes the possibility of simultaneous shelling one enemy air object at once by several anti-aircraft missile divisions of several types.
The use of this technique is the main indicator of the fundamental level of network-centric coordination in the Russian army, especially in the tasks of air and missile defense. According to this criterion, our Aerospace Forces are not one step behind the US Ground Forces and ILC, armed with Patriot PAC-2/3 and SLAMRAAM air defense missile systems, linked into a single tactical network with AN / TPS-59/75 surveillance radars, as well as with AWACS aircraft AWACS through the Link-16 radio channel.
At the same time, there is a criterion according to which our aerospace forces are significantly ahead of the radio intelligence and air defense units of the ground forces, the air force and the US Marine Corps. We are talking about the range of modern multifunctional radar stations for review, tracking and target designation, related to the "interspecific" (RTR, air defense and air traffic control of civil and military aviation) and intraspecific types. What do we see with the Americans?
In service with the US ILC in the mid-80s. received a powerful all-altitude radar detector with an active phased array of the decimeter D / L-band (frequency 1, 215-1, 4 GHz) AN / TPS-59 (known in the KMP as "GE-592"), which was later upgraded to the level of AN / TPS-59 (V) 3. Modern computing facilities, as well as a large aperture area with a decent energy potential of this radar, make it possible to simultaneously connect 500 routes of aerodynamic and ballistic air attack weapons at a distance of 740 km (instrumental range for targets with a large RCS). AN / TPS-59 (V) 3 are distinguished by a high target detection altitude of 152.4 km, a solid MTBF of 2000 hours. It is noteworthy that despite the low-frequency L-range of operation, the range resolution of the complex is 60 meters. The list of the main disadvantages of the GE-592 radar complex includes an extremely small scanning area in the elevation plane, which is only 20 degrees. In the upper hemisphere of this radar, there is a huge “dead zone” crater with a sector of 140º, which prevents the detection of airborne objects directly above the position of AN / TPS-59 (V) 3. Another negative factor for this radar is not the best opportunities for working with ultra-small targets, the RCS of which is 0.01-0.05 m2. As you can see, this radar is not a unique product.
The second most common American surveillance radar can be considered a multifunctional decimeter AN / TPS-75 "Tipsy-75". Used today by the US Air Force "Tipsy-75" entered service with the US Army in the distant 68th year. Even then, it was considered the most modern radar due to the presence of a phased antenna array operating in the S-band (at frequencies from 2 to 4 GHz and with a wavelength of 15-7.5 cm). The main trump card of this station, in comparison with the outdated AN / TPS-43, was: high MTBF, high throughput (during digitization, it increased to 1000 simultaneously tracked targets), as well as higher accuracy. The S-band provides additional benefits for ultra-small targets. The instrumental range of the Tipsi reaches 450 km, and a 4 ++ generation fighter-type target can be tracked at a distance of 320 - 330 km and an altitude of 30 km. Moreover, the AN / TPS-75 radar is the main ground targeting device for the Patriot-PAC-2/3 anti-aircraft missile systems.
If the Americans have these complexes as the basis of the tactical ground-based radio-technical components of the Ground Forces, the Air Force and the ILC, then at the disposal of our Radio-Technical Troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces there is a several times larger range of radar systems, among which you can find products operating in all known wavelengths (from the meter up to centimeter), as well as intended both for all-altitude scanning of the airspace in a circular view mode, and for sector work in strictly fixed zones of the azimuthal and elevation planes. These include: specialized low-altitude / medium-altitude S-band radar 48Ya6-K1 "Podlet-K1", multifunctional centimeter radar for surveillance and target designation 64L6 "Gamma-C1", L-band radar-AWACS "Protivnik-G" (analogue of AN / TPS -79), a solid-state AFAR-radar "Gamma-DE", an all-altitude centimeter C-band detector 96L6E (target designation radar for the S-300PM1 / 400 air defense system), and, finally, an interspecific mobile three-band radar complex 55Zh6M "Sky-M".
All of the above complexes, in aggregate, are head and shoulders above the 2 main radars of the American army. Operating in the C / X bands, most Russian stations are ahead of American models in target tracking accuracy, as well as in the ability to detect stealth objects with an ultra-small reflective surface. Moreover, such radars as VVO 96L6E or Gamma-S1, after appropriate hardware and software updates, are capable of direct target designation for missiles with active radar seeker. The modernization reserve of these radars will be enough for another two or three decades of service in the Aerospace Forces.
The Americans do not have a full-fledged conceptual analogue of the interspecies radar "Sky-M" even at the level of a prototype. Of course, as a counterbalance here, you can put a multifunctional radar with AFAR AN / TPY-2 (tactical early warning system and control of anti-missile batteries "THAAD"), but due to the use of only the X-band, the range of this station barely reaches 900-1000 km. Our 55Zh6M, built on a modular architecture, has 3 high-potential radar modules based on solid-state AFAR at once: RLM-M (meter range), RLM-D (decimeter range) and RLM-CE (centimeter range). The hardware of all modules is associated with the information field of the control cabin of the KU RLK complex. In turn, KU RLK, using radio relay and cable lines, as well as a synchronization unit with third-party consumers "Gran-BVS" or a digital joint S1-FL-BI, can be integrated into the information network of the ACS "Baikal-1ME", which transmits the coordinates of targets anti-aircraft missile units.
The conclusion about the uniqueness of the "Sky-M" complex absolutely does not require long-term analysis and comparison with foreign analogues. This can be seen, for example, by the instrumental detection range in the sector view mode, which is 1800 km for large aerospace targets of the MRBM type, a small target with an RCS of 0.1 m2 will be detected at about 260 - 280 km, which is 1, 7x better than AN / TPS-59. Hypersonic targets moving in the stratosphere at a speed of 17M (5 km / s) can be detected at an angle of up to 80 degrees relative to the complex, which the operators of the US Tipsy-75 or AN / TPS-59 never dreamed of; and the maximum height of the detected target at the moment of the maximum beam elevation can reach 1200 km, which is 8 times higher than that of the TPS-59! "Sky-M" easily copes with the tasks of detecting and tracking a wide range of ballistic targets, and therefore is considered a full-fledged mobile early warning radar, designed to work in the regional missile defense system. Developed by the Nizhny Novgorod Scientific Research Institute of Radio Engineering (NNIIRT), the 55Zh6M Sky-M complex began to actively enter service with RTV in 2015. It became known on May 15 of this year that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation purchased another set of "Sky-M" for the Radio-technical troops of Russia, within the framework of the state defense order.
The US Air Force and the ILC, this situation, judging by what is happening, absolutely does not suit, which is reflected in the active development of the 3DELRR projects ("Three-Dimebsional Expeditionary Long Range Radar", 3-band "expeditionary" radar) and AN / TPS-80 G / ATOR ("Ground / Air Task Oriented Radar", a radar designed to detect ground and air targets). The first project, owned by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, is part of the 52.7 million US Air Force contract to replace the aging Tipsy-75 surveillance radars. Initially, design work on the product began at the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century in the design departments of Lockheed Martin. Competing with Raytheon and Northrop, this company offered its developments for the radar of the future, a full-size 3DELRR model was developed in the shortest possible time.
Nevertheless, there was an incident with the hacking of the company's servers in 2009, which, according to Western experts, led to the emergence of a promising Chinese decimeter radar complex JY-26 “Skywatch-U”. It is quite possible, because the antenna array of the Chinese radar is represented by similar convex transmit-receive modules with the end part based on a flat truncated cone (seen from the photographs of the anniversary aerospace show "Zhuhai-2014"). We saw similar APMs on Lockheed Martin's 3DELRR mockup in 2013. Later, in the course of competitive "games", the project passed to "Raytheon". Were applied: an updated digital element base, a new form of PPM, as well as a "book" configuration of the opening of the antenna sheet.
At the moment, 3 pre-production models of the new radar are undergoing assembly stages in the Andover (Massachusetts) workshops; the achievement of their operational combat readiness is expected around the end of 2020. Over such a long period of time, Almaz-Antey and NNIIRT can develop another promising radar, or significantly improve the operating algorithms for the existing VVO 96L6E or Sky-M. Thus, the gap could become even more serious. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no reason to relax yet, because 3DELRR is a 3-band radar of a fundamentally new generation. In particular, its transmit-receive modules will be made on the basis of an advanced semiconductor material - gallium nitride (GaN), which has increased heat resistance and resistance to mechanical stress. Firstly, this indicates a significantly higher MTBF in comparison with PPM based on gallium arsenide (the radar will be very reliable). Secondly, high thermal stability will make it possible to increase the energy potential of the radar, which will automatically expand its effective range from the standard 350 - 400 km (for a fighter-type target) to 500 - 600 km, naturally, at the corresponding flight altitude of the latter.
It is known from open sources that the promising radar will be represented by a single light antenna post based on several thousand APMs (more than 5-8 thousand), which will be transported by a six-axle truck with a specialized compact platform. It will also house a folded 4-legged platform for operational installation of the antenna post. The trailer to the truck will transport the power generator for the radar complex and hardware control / interfacing with various consumers via cable interfaces and the Link-16 radio channel. Given the presence of only one antenna module of the "expeditionary" 3DELRR radar, it can be assumed that the APM will be divided into 3 subgroups operating in different ranges of decimeter and centimeter waves (a similar 2-band design is embodied in the Chinese shipborne type-346 radar). Today it is known only about the centimeter C-band of the advanced 3DELRR complex, designed to accompany the computer center and accurately target them at a distance of up to 300-350 km; modes of ultra-long-range detection will require the introduction of S - / L-bands. These ranges will allow the up-and-coming concept from Ratheon to achieve Sky-M functionality over the airborne targets. At the same time, the use of a single medium-sized antenna array is unlikely to make it possible to work on targets at distances of 800 kilometers or more. The 3DELRR, which fits into a book, will have excellent air transportability (surpassing the three massive antenna modules of the 55Zh6M complex). This will be the main advantage of the American radar.
An equally interesting product is the AN / TPS-80 G / ATOR mobile multifunctional decimeter radar system for the Marine Corps. The first successful test of a radar designed by Northrop Grumman took place in March 2013, and by 2017 the station had reached operational readiness. At the heart of the G / ATOR antenna fabric are the same gallium nitride APMs operating in the decimeter S-band (2-4 GHz). This range was chosen by the manufacturer for a reason. The wavelength of 15-7.5 cm is ideal for use in the following modes: AWACS due to its good propagation in the atmosphere, air traffic control of civil and military aviation (ATC), detection and target designation for small targets with an RCS of 0, 1 and less square meters, as well as for target designation to interceptor missiles (SAM and URVV with active RGSN).
Small targets were also mentioned for a reason, because the AN / TPS-80 is designed to replace five types of old highly specialized radars at once - AN / TPS-62/63 short and long-range radar detectors, AN / TPS-73 ATC radar and counter-battery artillery reconnaissance radars AN / TPQ-36/37 "Firefibder". G / ATOR successfully detects and accompanies artillery shells, mines and rockets of various calibers with minimal radar signature. The wide range of operating modes and energy characteristics of this radar complex are comparable to the Israeli EL / M-2084 radar, which controls the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Summing up the results of our work, we can conclude that in terms of multifunctional radar systems for lighting tactical air situations for anti-aircraft / anti-missile weapons of military air defense, as well as air defense of the Aerospace Forces, the Russian nomenclature of radars from NNIIRT and Almaz-Antey is significantly ahead of the American one in most of the known indicators. … Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and the US Armed Forces are now catching up. Nevertheless, the long delay on the previous design of the antenna arrays "Neba-M" and BBO 96L6E is very losing, and without the inclusion of GaN semiconductor technologies or substrates based on low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) into the design, we can lose the "radar race" by the mid-20s.
