First. No I don't expect Russian Weaponry to work as advertised and to defeat any and everything we throw at it.
Second. I do credit the enemy with ingenuity, guile and competence.
Last. I also recognize that while we've been chasing stealth to the exclusion of every other component of modern aerial warfare, the Russians and Chinese have been modernizing and building new high speed anti-air, anti-ship and surface attack missile systems. The US is lagging in this effort and the Europeans are only doing marginally better.
All that add up to the US and its allies having UBER expensive aircraft and mediocre missiles to launch at targets. Hopefully we have some systems in the black budget that are world beaters because on the surface we're waaaay behind.
NOTE: The S-350 is the replacement for the S-300 series of missiles. Supposedly in the Patriot class, the Russians are claiming that it greatly outperforms that system. Real or propaganda? I don't know, only a real combat test will tell the tale.
It would depend, I won't be surprised if it does outperform the Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept Of Target system, for one, the S-300 series is a huge bugger, and for another, the PAC 3 system sacrificed range and capability for number of missiles. The reported range of a PAC 3 is only 30km, which makes it a point defence system, not an anti-aircraft system unless the enemy plane blundered within 30km of the Patriot. 30km isn't much.
ReplyDeleteYou know when Koreans ask Russians for Radar and design help in their new SAM that they have got something worth while ,Korea could buy PAC-3 any time and could possibly even get a good discount on it but like it or not Ruskis are undisputed kings of SAM and AAA systems . US might build better ships,subs,tanks,planes but SAMs are not on that list.
ReplyDeleteyou're looking at the real Western blindspot. we better hope lasers come into being real quick because the Russians and Chinese have a lead when it comes to missile tech that we will have a hard time overcoming.
DeleteMr T is on the right track: one of the big questions with the system is how much the Russians got out of the KM-SAM joint development project w/S. Korea, which is part of the lineage of this missile. The South Koreans evidently thought they were better off blending Russian missile technology with western radar/C&C technology than they would have been buying Patriots or any of the other western gear they could have bought.
ReplyDeleteIf the Russians pulled enough out of that project and/or their other modernization work to get up to the Korean level, it is probably fully comparable to the most modern western systems.
Go google "Suter electronic warfare" It is a cat and mouse game and we will see who is ahead if the party starts.
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