The operation in Syria showed the weaknesses of the Aerospace Forces
The Russian military campaign in the Syrian sky continues, albeit in a somewhat narrow format. Nevertheless, the president's decision to withdraw part of the forces and means from the Arab republic is the basis for summing up the first results.
According to official data, from September 30 of last year to March 14 of the current year, the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation performed more than nine thousand sorties in order to combat the IG banned in our country, maintaining an exceptionally high rate: from 60 to 80 per day. The bulk of the work was done by a special aviation brigade deployed in Khmeimim. But the total also included the sorties of long-range and strategic bombers during Operation Retribution, carried out in response to the passenger A-321 of the Kogalymavia company that was blown up by terrorists. The flights of military transport aviation, which transported goods from the territory of Russia to Syria and back, were also taken into account. The intensity and efficiency of the air bridge is evidenced by the fact that in just two months, over 214 thousand tons were transported by the BTA forces. Part of the combat "traffic" fell on reconnaissance aircraft.
At the beginning of the operation, the daily rate rarely exceeded 30-40 sorties, only occasionally reaching the 60 mark designated by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. But from mid-December it began to grow steadily. The peak was in late January - mid-March. To maintain such a high pace, additional front-line bombers Su-24 and Su-34 were deployed to the Khmeimim airbase.
We would like to emphasize that with the phenomenal intensity of combat work, the crews and ground service personnel did not allow a single flight incident. For comparison: during the thirteen-day operation "Odyssey Rising" in Libya in 2011, NATO aviation lost an American multifunctional F-15E fighter and one drone as a result of an emergency and equipment failure. So if it were not for the Su-24M front-line bomber shot down by the Turkish Air Force and the Mi-8AMTSh killed during the search and rescue operation, our Aerospace Forces could have defeated the militants dry.
The lack of modern air defense systems among terrorists and irreconcilable opposition has made Syrian airspace an ideal place for testing the entire arsenal of precision weapons that Russia has. Moreover, its basis was no longer Soviet stocks, but samples created and supplied to the troops only a few years ago.
As accurate as possible
At the time of the start of the air operation in Syria, 12 front-line Su-24 bombers were deployed at the Khmeimim airbase, the same number of Su-25 attack aircraft, four Su-34 strike aircraft and four Su-30 multipurpose bombers. Already during the campaign, the command deployed an additional four Su-34s and the same Su-24 to Syria. And at the end of January, four newest Su-35s appeared in Latakia, designed to protect bombers and attack aircraft of the special-purpose air brigade from provocations from the Turkish Air Force.
After Vladimir Putin's decision to withdraw troops, not only all the Su-25 attack aircraft returned to Russia, but also four front-line Su-24 bombers and the same number of Su-34s. In addition, according to the "Military-Industrial Courier", from December last year to January this year there was a rotation of several Su-24s, replaced by similar machines transferred from the territory of Russia.
Out of almost nine thousand sorties, the bulk of the aircraft fell on the most numerous aircraft of the special-purpose air brigade - the Su-24M2 and Su-24M bombers, equipped with the SVP-24 computing subsystem. It was these machines, together with the Su-25SM attack aircraft, that became the main carriers of unguided aircraft weapons (UAS).
The time-tested Kh-25 and Kh-29 aircraft missiles were also used, but nevertheless, the KAB-500S corrected bombs became the high-precision "weapon of choice" for the Russian Aerospace Forces. KAB-500-OD and heavier KAB-1500 were used sporadically.
The share of the WTO used by Russia in Syria is, of course, far from the indicators of the United States and NATO (in the conflicts of the current millennium - up to 80 percent). But in comparison with the August 2008 operation against Georgia, the progress is striking - not only in equipping the Aerospace Forces with high-precision AAS, but also in the effective tactics of their use.
The modernized sighting and navigation systems of front-line bombers Su-24 and attack aircraft Su-25 made it possible to hit area targets and field fortifications of militants with conventional bombs much more efficiently. But in settlements where a dozen meters of deviation means casualties among the civilian population and unnecessary destruction, alas, there is no alternative to high-precision weapons.
Therefore, in second place in terms of the intensity of combat use after the Su-24M are the multifunctional Su-34s, which have become the main carriers of the WTO. It is noteworthy that some of the "thirty-fourths" flew more than three hundred sorties in five and a half months.
At the same time, we have to admit that the perennial disputes between our defense industry and the command of the Aerospace Forces about which is better - built-in optical location stations or suspended containers, have dragged on. And the attack aircraft are not armed with either one or the other.
Even despite the initially dubious concept of the Su-34 and already morally obsolete - due to the difficult and long path of introduction into mass production - the Platan onboard optical location station, these multifunctional vehicles turned out to be the most effective platform for using the entire range of high-precision weapons …
And one more thing: the massive use of satellite-guided aircraft by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria became possible only after the GLONASS orbital group was brought to full complement in 2011-2012. It made it possible to securely hit individual buildings and key infrastructure of the militants with minimization of collateral damage.
But for all its effectiveness, satellite-corrected ammunition, unfortunately, is not a universal miracle weapon capable of solving any tasks facing the Aerospace Forces. "Space" accuracy is not always sufficient to defeat small, well-fortified objects, bunkers. Such ammunition is useless against moving targets. Of course, the range and height of the KAB-500S application protect their carriers from MANPADS and anti-aircraft artillery, but almost any short-range air defense system, including outdated ones, already poses a serious danger to the aircraft.
In the Syrian operation, the Russian command faced the same problem as the Americans faced with the widespread introduction of precision weapons in the 90s of the last century. Even such a simple ammunition as the KAB-500S is not cheap at all. Each bomb costs like a premium car, and the reserves are small, which made them spend sparingly. During air strikes in Syria, a rare target was awarded more than one KAB-500S per flight, which was not always enough for guaranteed destruction.
The Russian military department has probably more than once regretted that it does not yet have JDAM analogs at its disposal - kits for the relatively inexpensive conversion of the bottomless Russian stocks of FAB and OFAB into precision weapons. This is all the more annoying that such developments are no longer the property of only technologically advanced countries. Such kits have also been mastered by second-tier arms manufacturers like Turkey and South Africa.
It is not yet necessary to talk about even more effective transformations of conventional weapons into high-precision weapons, when, by adding planes and engines, old cast-iron bombs are transformed into a WTO capable of hitting enemy targets at long range.
Feasible load
One of the most significant events in the Russian campaign in Syria was the use of sea- and air-launched cruise missiles. The exact number of launched CDs is unknown. According to Sergei Shoigu's report at a meeting on November 20 last year, 101 missiles were used by long-range aviation and the Navy at that time.
If we summarize the figures from the reports and statements of the Russian military-political leadership, only the Navy has worked on targets in Syria with at least 46 Kalibr-NK cruise missiles. It is noteworthy that salvo launches of the newest cruise missiles in such quantities have not been previously practiced either in tests or during exercises. But the first experience turned out to be very successful.
Of course, not all of the missiles reached their targets, but the failure rate is comparable to the 10-16 demonstrated by the US RC in the 2003 Iraqi campaign and the Tomahawks of the Desert Storm era. The Russian fleet has acquired the capability of a high-precision non-nuclear strike for hundreds and thousands of kilometers, which noticeably enhances the ability to project force far from its borders.
Against the background of the loud launch of naval cruise missiles, the successful use of the Kh-555 and the newest stealthy Kh-101 in Syria remained almost unnoticed. Of course, the presence of such ASPs in the arsenal of Russian long-range aviation, as well as their capabilities, were hardly a secret to anyone. Nevertheless, for these missiles, Syria became a combat debut.
It remains to be regretted that even the modernized Tu-22M3, which accounted for the bulk of long-range aviation sorties, continued to operate exclusively with unguided bombs. Although some of the Backfires involved in strikes on the positions of the militants were equipped with Hephaestus SVP-22 computer subsystems specially modified for these machines, which ensure the high accuracy of conventional free-fall bombs. Due to the limited range of flight without refueling and to minimize collateral damage, the bomb load of the Tu-22M3 was greatly reduced. The typical set of 12 250-kilogram bombs demonstrated in Syria is more typical of tactical than strategic aviation. But if each of them were adjustable, for example KAB-500S, then even such a load would make the Tu-22M3 much more dangerous for area targets of high importance: terrorist oil refineries, military bases and airfields of potential adversaries.
In fact, all air operations of NATO countries, be it in Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan, do not go without tanker aircraft, the intensity of which often exceeds that of attack aircraft, fighters and bombers. But Russian air tankers took a very limited part in the operation in Syria, mainly providing fuel to the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS missile carriers.
Our fighters, front-line bombers and attack aircraft, that during the flight from Russia to Syria in the fall of last year, that during the withdrawal of troops this spring, did not refuel in the air, limiting themselves only to outboard fuel tanks.
As representatives of the Aerospace Forces admitted to the "Military-Industrial Courier", the number of tanker aircraft and their tactical and technical characteristics cannot yet ensure the effective use of Russian strike vehicles at long range. An air tanker must not only carry the required amount of fuel, but also stay in the sky for a long time. So far, all hope is only for the Il-96-400TZ, which are being refurbished at an aircraft plant in Voronezh.
There are also organizational problems. Now tankers are subordinate to the command of long-range aviation and, first of all, ensure its combat work, and for refueling front-line bombers and fighters they are recruited on a leftover basis.
Drones are trying patience
It cannot be denied that the significant successes of the Syrian government forces are largely the merit of the Russian Special Purpose Aviation Brigade. Su-25 and Mi-24P almost continuously provided direct fire support to ground forces.
But if the combat work of attack helicopters constantly got on various videos from the scene, then only three videos are devoted to attack aircraft striking the positions of militants using unguided missiles and aerial bombs. Although the Rooks worked very intensively in the skies of Syria, sometimes making five or six flights a day.
In passing, we note that guided missiles were used by the crews of Mi-24P helicopters quite rarely. Their "weapon of choice" remained the NAR, used in Syria to defeat not only stationary, but also mobile targets, including armored vehicles.
Unfortunately, it should be admitted that if the destruction of stationary objects in Syria did not pose a problem for our Aerospace Forces, then the fight against mobile targets, armed pickup trucks and just small groups of militants is still difficult and fraught with risk for pilots, since it is necessary to act on low altitudes in conditions of the use of small arms and MANPADS by the enemy.
Modern world experience in the fight against terrorism and counterinsurgency shows that the optimal solution here is attack drones equipped with guided missiles, sometimes guided bombs. This is a truly high-precision weapon that allows you to hit such targets with minimal collateral damage.
In Syria and neighboring Iraq, Chinese and even Iranian-made shock drones are used, but similar Russian products are still at the testing stage. And today this is perhaps the weakest point of our VKS.
Failed to close the niche of drones and attack helicopters. The new Mi-35Ms were too few in number, and the most modern Mi-28N and Ka-52 with advanced sighting and surveillance systems appeared a few days ago, although they had already entered the battle. But even they have to economize on smart missiles.
The guided missiles, which our helicopters are equipped with, are quite effective for fighting armored vehicles and vehicles, but due to dimensional limitations, their high-explosive fragmentation and thermobaric versions are noticeably inferior in power to similar versions of the popular American AGM-114 Hellfire. Moreover, stocks of such products are still being created by the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Meanwhile, Iraq alone, with its modest air force, has to spend hundreds of thermobaric and high-explosive Hellfires a month in the fight against ISIS. Suffice it to say that this year the US State Department approved the sale of five thousand such missiles to Baghdad, although some of them will be in anti-tank version.
