In view of the global pre-escalation state of the world military-strategic arena, in almost every new review, we are forced to jump from analyzing one theater of military operations to another. Each of them has its own unique tactical-geographical, tactical-technical and topographic features, including: the terrain, the remoteness of strong points, fortified areas, air bases, the lines of action of electronic warfare systems and air defense-missile defense position areas of the opposing sides. Also, meteorological conditions play a very important role, which have a huge impact on the range of operation of optoelectronic sighting systems, including thermal imagers, television / infrared and semi-active laser seeker. Any predictive work must take into account these details, otherwise its objectivity will be very questionable.
There is no doubt that the "explosive" events in Novorossia and Syria, as well as the increase in tension in the Baltic ON and in the Black Sea region, are for us an important indicator of determining the future vector and rhetoric of the "Great Game". But far from the last, among the geostrategic poles, the place continues to remain behind the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, where the interests of not two, but three or even more parties collide. Here their strategic positions are defended not only by Russia and the West, as, for example, in the Atlantic, but also by China, North Korea, South Korea (ROK), India, Japan and Vietnam. And each of these states, in addition to common interests with the Russian Federation or the United States, watches over its own benefits in the region.
Meanwhile, the events of recent weeks have completely crowded out their own minor corporate interests, such as territorial disputes over the island archipelagos Spratly and Diaoyu, from the agenda of small states in the Asia-Pacific region, since “strategists” - Russia, China and the United States - have joined the confrontation “in full”. News from the first weeks of October 2016, coming from the United States, provides us with a complete picture of the future interaction of tactical aviation of the USA, Japan and South Korea in organizing air operations against North Korea, China and Russia.
So, according to information received by TASS correspondent Alexei Kachalin, on Thursday, October 6, tactical exercises "Red Flag - Alaska" started at the Eielson airbase in Alaska, the purpose of which is to train flight personnel of tactical aviation of the US Air Force, the Republic of Korea, as well as the Japanese Air Force. to military conflicts of varying intensity both in the Far East and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to the flight personnel of fighter aircraft, the crews and operators of air tankers, AWACS aircraft, as well as operational ground support personnel, whose professional actions are very often decisive in the success of an air mission of any type, will be able to hone their skills. The composition of the tactical squadrons of the participants in the exercises, which is represented by 80 fighters, also speaks volumes.
Despite the fact that the press service of Eielson AFB claims that the exercises are being conducted only in order to prepare each side for the many upcoming conflicts around the world, in reality everything is much more complicated. This is evidenced only by the fact that a US Air Force squadron of the 18th Air Wing, deployed at the largest American airbase "Kadena" in Okinawa, is arriving for the exercises. This airbase will play a decisive role in organizing any military operation in the western part of the Asia-Pacific region, together with the thousands-strong military base being built by the American Armed Forces in South Korean Pyeongtaek. The Kadena aviation base has tactical attack aviation and air defense aviation, strategic refueling aircraft and E-3C Sentry AWACS aircraft are also based, which is why it is often called the "cornerstone in the APR". The forces represented at Red Flag - Alaska were divided into aggressor (red), allies (blue) and neutral (white).
Everything indicates that the US Air Force is preparing for joint military operations with the Japanese and ROK Air Forces against North Korea and China. In addition, this is confirmed by the planned defense contracts between South Korea and European manufacturers of missile technology. Thus, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea plans to conclude a contract for the purchase of 170 tactical long-range cruise missiles KEPD-350K TAURUS. Invisible subsonic missiles, developed by the Swedish-German company "Taurus System GmbH", have an EPR of no more than 0.05 m2, and a range of up to 500 km, thanks to which they can easily penetrate the weak missile defense system of the DPRK from the southern and eastern air directions. For South Korea, this contract is akin to a "strategic asset", since, in addition to the rapid suppression of air defense, the Taurus will be able to perform more serious tasks - the fight against some protected nuclear facilities of the DPRK.
For this, the KEPD-350 is equipped with a 485-kilogram concrete-piercing / penetrating warhead MEPHISTO (Multi-Effect Penetrator, High Sophisticated and Target Optimized), designed by the Franco-German company TDA / TDW. The warhead is represented by an 85-kilogram leading shaped charge with a diameter of 36 cm and a length of 53 cm. The main high-explosive projectile, located in a thick-walled steel core with a length of 2.3 m, has a mass of 400 kg and is designed to penetrate thick concrete floors and overcome hard ground, " softened "leading shaped charge. You can have no doubt that Pyongyang's nuclear response to a similar MRAU by the ROK Air Force will end with dire consequences both for Seoul and for American naval bases and air bases in the region, and therefore this scenario, although included in Washington's strategic plan, is still left for a "snack" when the world enters the path of a global nuclear conflict.
The current demonization of the North Korean nuclear program by the diplomatic corps of Washington, as well as the Asian henchmen of the United States - Japan and South Korea, is aimed at distracting Russia and China from a more significant strategy in the Asia-Pacific region - the implementation of a network-centric link between the air forces of these states over the northern part of the Pacific ocean. What is the "trick" here?
Already today, our Tu-95MS and Tu-160 can be increasingly found on alert over the vast expanses of the very turbulent Asia-Pacific region, and the number of such flights will increase in direct proportion to the deteriorating military-political situation. In the event of a non-nuclear global military conflict between Russia and the United States, one of the most important directions for delivering strikes with Kalibr cruise missiles along the West Coast remains the northwestern VN (from the North Pacific Ocean). For permanent effective control of this part of the airspace, from the Western Aleutian Islands to the Hawaiian Islands, the current fighter composition of the US air defense identification zone (part of the NORAD structure) will not be enough, especially if promising bombers of the Chinese Air Force and the new Russian PAK-DA are wedged into the confrontation. …And the United States may need the help of its own fighter squadrons deployed in Japan, as well as the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. In fact, the air defense identification zone of the North American Aerospace Defense Command will expand its air lines up to the coast of Kamchatka. The Americans are insured by all available methods and this can be seen in any of their "body movements" on the world stage. But despite all the tricks, both Beijing and Moscow perfectly see what is happening and are taking immediate measures to stop the new threat in the APR.
So, in October 2016, at the airbases of the Central and Eastern military districts, the formation of a heavy bomber aviation division (TBAD), represented by Tu-95MS strategic missile bombers and Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic bombers, is approaching the final stage. As specified in the Izvestia newspaper, the main goal of the new TBAD will be combat duty in the Asia-Pacific region near the borders of the Hawaiian Islands, the island of Guam, and also Japan. This triangle of the North Pacific Ocean is precisely the zone in which the US Air Force will form the front line of the air defense identification zone. The leading strike component of the heavy bomber aviation division will be several dozen Tu-22M3s, designed for operational supersonic flight to the battlefield, as well as for breaking through the air defense of American and Japanese Aegis ships at ultra-low altitudes in the western part of the Asia-Pacific region.
Possessing the high-speed performance of the Raptor, the Tu-22M3 Backfire will be able to appear at lightning speed in the necessary sections of the Asia-Pacific region even before the arrival of the slow F / A-18E / F, based on American aircraft carriers, and also successfully avoid their interception. Thanks to its 2-fly speed, Backfires remain as relevant as they were during the Cold War. A terrible dream of American sailors and the command of the US Navy is the X-32 (9-A-2362) hypersonic anti-ship missiles, developed by the Raduga Design Bureau on the basis of the X-22M heavy anti-ship missiles. Like the previous version of the Kh-22M, the new missile has impressive weight and dimensions and has enormous kinetic energy, which allows it to “burn through” more than ten meters of structural elements of modern American Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. This is facilitated by both the mass of the rocket of 5, 78 tons, and a powerful cumulative warhead, racing at a speed of 4 to 5, 2M.
The hypersonic speed of the Kh-32, with their massive use, makes it possible to partially neglect even such an important quality as the radar signature (the RCS of the Kh-32 is about 0.7 m2). Even 50 - 70 Kh-32 anti-ship missiles are capable of causing significant damage to a full-fledged American AUG as part of the 1st nuclear aircraft carrier, 2 Aegis cruisers of the Ticonderoga URO and 4 Aegis destroyers of the Arley Burke URO. About half of the Kh-32 will be destroyed by RIM-174 ERAM and RIM-161A / B interceptors, part of the remaining half will be hit by Standards-3/6, but due to its large mass and kinetic energy, it can reach the target and cause fragmentation damage to AN / SPY radars -1A / D ships of the grouping, some more will definitely hit the assigned targets - the AUG, as a result, will not be able to maintain operational combat readiness and will be forced to return to the nearest surviving naval base. An important advantage of the Kh-32 is the ability to fly along a semi-ballistic trajectory with a dive from an altitude of 40,000 m: at this stage of the flight, a heavy rocket has a very low deceleration coefficient, which creates significant difficulties for Western naval air defense systems. The range of the Kh-32 is about 1000 km, which does not require the Tu-22M3 pilots to come into close contact with the enemy aircraft carrier strike group.
Strategic missile carriers Tu-95MS armed with the new TBAD will be designed to deliver massive missile and air strikes against US naval bases, air bases and other military facilities located in Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. More than 15 - 20 bears with hundreds of stealthy strategic cruise missiles of the Kh-101 type can be brought together into one heavy bomber aviation division, with which it will be very easy to wipe out not only existing, but also planned military infrastructure from the face of the earth.
The new strategic aviation formation is being formed on the basis of the 6953rd Guards Sevastopol-Berlin Red Banner Air Base (formerly the 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Ternopil Order of Kutuzov Division), which includes two large air bases in the Amur and Irkutsk regions - Ukrainka and Belaya. According to the calculations of the "eagle_rost" observer, made thanks to maps.google.ru, there are at least 36 Tu-95MS "strategists" on AvB Ukrainka, and up to 39 long-range Tu-22M3 bombers on AvB Belaya, which can carry out a massive missile strike with 288 strategic cruise ships. missiles Kh-101 and 117 hypersonic anti-ship missiles Kh-32, this will be enough for any known naval group.
The Ukrainka and Belaya airbases have a very favorable geostrategic position: from the eastern air direction they will be covered by the S-400 Triumph, S-300V4 and S-300PS anti-aircraft missile systems deployed in the Primorsky Territory - this will provide protection from the Tomahawk TFR launched from the American MPS Los Angeles from the Pacific Ocean; on the southern VN, another advantage opens up - the relative proximity to the Near East region, where the situation is even more unstable and may require the involvement of additional strategic aviation with cruise or anti-ship missiles on board. For example, to ferry a squadron of anti-ship "Backfires" from Belaya AvB to the Arabian Sea region, it will take only one refueling by several air tankers over the territory of Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan and about 4 hours of flight.
Continuing the tradition of heavy bomber aviation divisions in the Russian Aerospace Forces, equipped with the latest modifications of long-range and strategic vehicles possessing the strongest anti-ship and striking qualities, will show the American Navy who is the true ruler of the seas and continents and will become for us a worthy guarantee of success and security in the merciless military the political arena of the XXI century.
