A unique feature of the N035 "Irbis-E" onboard radar installed on the super-maneuverable Su-35S fighter is the ability to detect and track hypersonic aerospace targets flying at speeds up to 1527 m / s (5, 17M)
At one time, numerous bloggers and combat aviation enthusiasts posted on various Internet resources a lot of reviews and comparisons of the Su-34 tactical fighter-bomber with the American analogue of the F-15E "Srike Eagle". All the advantages and disadvantages of both machines were clearly distinguished. So, for example, the only drawbacks of the Su-34 can be considered a lower thrust-to-weight ratio, due to which the speed of the steady turn and the rate of climb decreased, and the increased midsection of the cockpit, which led to a decrease in speed from 2500 to 1900 km / h. In other respects, the Russian tactical fighter is confidently ahead of its American competitor. And what about comparing the Su-35S 4 ++ generation multipurpose fighter with its overseas rival F-15SE Silent Eagle? This question has recently puzzled us Vietnamese "specialist and observer" Nam Thang. Either because of pro-American views, or for some other reason, Thang, in his publication on the resource kienthuc.net.vn, conducted several comparative analyzes of the Russian Su-35S with the American F-15SE for various performance characteristics, as a result of which he determined the Silent Eagle as indisputable leader for the Vietnam Air Force upgrade program.
But the most interesting thing is that Mr. Thang argues his incompetent conclusions by technological identity with the PRC Air Force, which, in his opinion, leads to defeat. Thus, the Su-35S enters the armament of the Chinese Air Force, and having purchased similar Flanker-E +, Hanoi will not have advantages over Chinese fighters. He also believes that the F-15SE has its own "zest", inaccessible to our multipurpose.
Regular "clean" comparative reviews of only 2 samples of military equipment are boring, but we are forced to do this by the numerous publications of such personalities as Nam Thang that do not correspond to common technical sense.
ALL THANG'S PUBLICATION IS A GREAT TECHNICAL LYAP
Despite the fact that the main share in the arms market of Vietnam is represented by Russian military aircraft, non-nuclear submarines, modern anti-aircraft missile and anti-ship systems, as well as tactical missile weapons, Nam Thang, inspired by the lifting of the US arms embargo, announced by Barack Obama during visit to Hanoi, declares at the beginning of his article about the need to shift the vector of defense purchases from Moscow to Washington. At the same time, there are huge doubts that Vietnam will be able to afford 2 times more expensive contracts with American giants such as Boeing or Lockheed Martin. Thang begins to contradict his preferences starting from the economic "rudiments" of all contractual moments. One Su-35S is estimated today at about 65-70 million dollars, the F-15SE - about 100 million dollars, and this is not counting the complete lack of experience of the flight crew of the Vietnamese Air Force flying the F-15C "Eagle", as well as the necessary base for ground handling of these complex machines, which will require tens of millions of dollars more. With Sushki, everything is much simpler: the training of flight personnel was initially carried out in India on multipurpose Su-30MKI fighters; The Vietnamese Air Force uses 5 two-seat combat training versions of the Su-27UBK fighter for these purposes, which are excellent for training pilots on the Su-35S, at least in terms of flight technical issues. On the other hand, training in combat use can easily take place at the place of the operator of the systems of the Yak-130 combat trainer, which easily imitates most types of tactical fighters, not only domestic, but also of Western production.
The information field of two pilots is formed around 3 MFIs measuring 15x20 cm on the dashboard of the pilot and the system operator. The Yak-130 is equipped with a digital fly-by-wire control system (EDSU) KSU-130, which is capable of simulating the controllability of almost any modern tactical fighter, bomber or military transport aircraft at speeds up to 1050 km / h, of course, within the permissible overload range (8 units) and angle of attack (40 degrees). This is facilitated by the excellent aerodynamic qualities of the Yak-130 airframe: large aerodynamic sags at the wing roots create additional lift, which increases the maximum angular velocity of the turn and the limiting angle of attack.
A separate point is the unification of a huge range of Russian and Western-made missile and bomb weapons, which any modern attack aircraft or UBS from the Scorpion to Aermacchi M-346 and A-10A can envy. Can be used KAB-500-OD / KR corrected aerial bombs, tactical guided missiles of the AGM-65 Maverick family, Marte Mk2 anti-ship missiles, Mk.82 and Mk.83 free-fall bombs and other weapons after adaptation of suspension points and installation of additional software into a computerized LMS.
To form such logistic and combat training support for the F-15SE, including UBS with appropriate simulation programs and ground simulators, huge investments will be required. And now about the technical issues.
Yak-130 is the most advanced combat training aircraft in the world
The first and most important thing that Nam Thang wants to convey to readers is the perfection of the airborne radar with AFAR AN / APG-63 (V) 3. He claims that this radar is significantly superior to the Russian radar with PFAR N035 "Irbis-E". As we know, with all the advantages of this radar, it also has some disadvantages over the Irbis. Like any AFAR, AN / APG-63 (V) 3 does not have a mechanical drive for turning the canvas in azimuth and elevation, and the field of view (transfer of the electron beam) is only 60 degrees in azimuth. To detect, track and capture air targets in the lateral hemispheres, it is necessary to turn the entire vehicle. Passive HEADLIGHT H035, on the other hand, has a mechanical antenna rotation, due to which the field of view increases to 240 degrees. Mechanical reversal allows avoiding energy losses of the radiation lobe, since the PFAR is deployed to the target with its entire area (brought to the normal according to the “sin / cos” law). At AFAR, the detection range decreases with an increase in the angle relative to the roll of the fighter, and the fighter must approach the target to "guide" it. The Su-35S, unlike the F-15SE, has no such drawback.
Target detection range with RCS of 1 m2 (Silent Eagle with 2nd AMRAAM on external sling) for Irbis-E is 300 km, for AN / APG-63 (V) 3 - 145 km; this is when working within the sector +/– 60 degrees. In large angles, the American radar does not see anything, but ours sees with the same range as the American one. At an angle of +/– 120 degrees relative to the roll of the Su-35S, the Irbis-E sees a target with an RCS of 1 m2 at a range of 135-145 km. Judge whose "brainchild" is cooler. The carrying capacity (channel) of the Irbis-E is: for tracking - 30 targets, for capturing - 8 targets. AN / APG-63 (V) has 3: escort - 20 targets, capture - 6 VTS. Even on-board computers are not saved from the Super Hornets, which is not surprising, because the Irbis has 1772 APMs, AN / APG-63 (V) 3 - 1500 APMs. The Su-35S, which carries RVV-BD long-range air combat missiles and RVV-SD medium-range missiles, has significantly greater interception limits than the F-15SE (180 versus 300 km, respectively).
Equipped with advanced air-to-air interceptor missiles using the hit-to-kill concept, the Su-35S will be able to effectively intercept both hypersonic aerodynamic and ballistic targets, including OTBRs such as ATACMS, as well as guided missiles. modern MLRS.
Of course, AN / APG-63 (V) 3 also has advantages: the time between failures of the AFAR is noticeably higher than that of the PFAR, each PPM has its own transmitter and receiver of the signal, which makes it possible to maintain operability even in the event of failure of a part of the transmitting and receiving modules. the transfer of the electron beam is also faster, but this affects the fighting qualities only slightly. Modes of mapping the terrain and tracking ground targets are implemented with an accuracy of 1 m.
Thang recalls the presence in the F-15SE OEPS with an AN / AAS-42 infrared channel, but the Su-35S also has an OLS-35 OLPK, which includes infrared and television channels, as well as a laser rangefinder with a designator function. The azimuth sector of its view is 90 degrees, the elevation is 75 degrees. In the front and rear hemispheres, the OLS-35 detects the F-15SE at ranges from 50 to 90 km, respectively: the Irbis radar can be turned off and the Silent's onboard means of the REP will lose any effect.
The Vietnamese observer claims that the F-15SE performs better at high altitudes and speeds, without seriously assessing the deflected thrust vector of the Sushka engines. But how it surpasses our car is not entirely clear. The service ceiling of both machines is about 18,500 m, the speed of the F-15SE is only 150 km / h higher, which is almost irrelevant in air operations. On the other hand, the deflected thrust vector of the AL-41F1S engines is of decisive importance during close air combat not only with the Silent Eagle, but also with such highly maneuverable vehicles as the Rafal or F-22A.
Then, as an argument, the combat load of the Su-35S is given, which is 25-30% less than that of the F-15SE (8 versus 10, 5 tons). But this argument is a real "dust" when it comes to the nomenclature and characteristics of weapons, as well as the number of points of its suspension. F-15SE "Silent Eagle" in the original version has 9 external hardpoints and 4 internal assemblies (expandable for different missile / bomb calibers), built into conformal fuel tanks (CTB). We have already talked about weapons for air combat more than once, but what about shock weapons? "Silent Eagle" can take on board tactical cruise missiles with short EPR long-range AGM-158B "JASSM-ER", planning UAB AGM-154 "JSOW", tactical missiles of the AGM-65 "Maverick" family, anti-ship missiles AGM-84 " Harpoon ", missiles AGM-84H" SLAM-ER "and other types of high-precision missile weapons. They are distinguished by low radar signature, but all, without exception, are subsonic EHV.
In the presence of modern air defense systems, this does not give the F-15SE any advantages in comparison with the Su-35S. At 12 external points of the latter's suspension, almost all tactical missile weapons have supersonic flight speed: PRLR Kh-58UShKE, Kh-31P, Kh-31A anti-ship missiles and 3M51 Alpha. Also recently, information appeared that India is ready to supply the Vietnamese Air Force with supersonic anti-ship missiles "BrahMos", which can be used both from the Su-30MK2 and unified for use on the Su-35S. All of the above missiles are designed to destroy complex and well-protected targets with a breakthrough of the most powerful anti-missile defense systems. Subsonic tactical missiles, which can be armed with the F-15SE, do not have half the capabilities that are available for the Su-35S arsenal.
And finally, Thang argues that the Su-35S onboard electronic element base is much inferior to the F-15SE, which is also not true. A fighter equipped with an IRBIS-E radar with PFAR, an open on-board computer architecture for installing specialized RTR and EW Khibiny containers, as well as a powerful OLS-35, by definition cannot be equipped with electronics that are worse than Silent's. The pilot's information field is represented by a dashboard with 2 large-format 15-inch MFIs, a special navigation and information communication indicator under the HUD and an auxiliary display that duplicates the information of the artificial horizon, altimeter and other sensors while the main MFIs display information from the radar and OLS.
The S-108, the Su-35S tactical communications system, belongs to a new generation. It is an analogue of the S-111-N airborne communications system, which is equipped with the 5th generation stealth fighters T-50 PAK-FA. Thanks to the S-108, the Su-35S can maintain radio communication with other tactical aircraft at a distance of 500 km, with ground control units - 350 (depending on the radio horizon at different flight altitudes). Communication can be carried out both in the AM and FM bands at frequencies from 30 to 399.975 MHz. There is a mode of pseudo-random tuning of the operating frequency, which is a complex algorithm for protection against signal interception, there is also a software option for scrambling the communication channel. The frequency hopping mode can be used on 2 frequency ranges (from 100 to 150 MHz and from 220 to 400 MHz). The FM transmitter power is 15W, which is 2.5-3 times the power of standard portable radios.
Now directly on the tactical information transmission complex. The restructuring of the working data exchange channel has a frequency of 78125 Hz, so it is as difficult to intercept this signal as the signal from the Link-16 tactical network (77800 Hz). The frequency range of the tactical information exchange module is in the range of 960-1215 MHz, which corresponds to most of similar Western systems. The speed of data exchange with other units is 25 Kbps, and the transmitter power of the terminal is 200 W. The Reed-Solomon code is used as protection, and the noise immunity is 15, 5 dB / W. The S-108 communication system is the main network-centric base of the Su-35S, thanks to which the fighter almost "stepped over" into the 5th generation.
THE CONCLUSION IS UNIQUE
Nam Thang in his work tried to convey only that the Vietnamese Air Force, given the prevalence of the Russian Su-30/35 in the IATR countries, requires an exclusively Western-made machine, "not the same as everyone else's." He believes that "Silent Eagle" can achieve success only due to a different element base, but completely neglects the comparative characteristics of this base with ours, which is an order of magnitude higher than the American one. Therefore, the overall assessment of the F-15SE in Thang's article is frankly ridiculous and biased.
