INTRODUCTION
US military will be deploying a new missile that will be an excellent counter to air defense systems. The AARGM-ER missile is an enhanced variant of AARGM and is air to land missile intended to knock out the enemy's air defenses. The new missile is to be carried by the US Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
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| AARGM-ER |
It will eventually be qualified for the carriage of the internal weapons on the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II. In this Article, Defence Talks analyzes how U.S Navy plans to counter enemy air defense including Russian s 400 with F 35 armed with AARGM-ER? Let’s get started.
PROLIFERATION OF AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM
Air superiority is the key to modern warfare. US military is by far the most well-equipped one in the world when it comes to ruling the skies. It has the best aircraft, very well trained pilots and many bases as well as launch platforms including more than 10 aircraft carriers.
To counter this, near-peer rivals of the U.S like Russia & China have deployed sophisticated air defense systems as part of the Anti-Access and Area Denial (A2AD) strategy. For example, Russia has S 400. It developed by Russia’s Almaz Central Design Bureau in the 1990s as an upgrade of the S 300 family. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
It has been in commission with the Russian soldiers since 2007. S 400 is designed to defend against aircraft including 5th generation stealth fighters, bombers, AWACS, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. It is considered to be one of the most powerful anti-aircraft defense systems in the world.
S 400 can track hundreds of targets at a time, engage up to 36 targets in parallel and simultaneously launch 72 missiles. S 400 uses multiple radars counting on threat perception. The primary one is either the 91N6E Big Bird Acquisition and Battle Management Radar or 92N6E Grave Stone Multimode Engagement Radar. These have a range of around 600 km or around 370 miles. S 400 deploys multiple missiles to cover its strike envelope and can take out a target at ranges up to 250 miles or around 400 km which are traveling at speed ups to Mach 14 Even second tire powers like Iran have developed indigenous air defense systems that have decent capabilities.
For example, Iran has deployed Khordad 15. Khordad 15 is a mobile air defense system which is claimed to be indigenously developed by Iran. It was inaugurated in the presence of Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in June last year. The system incorporates a domestically developed radar. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami had said that the system is capable of detecting fighter jets and combat drones from 150 km or 93 miles away and tracking them within a range of 120 km or 75 miles. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
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| Khordad 15 |
According to him, the system can be deployed in less than 5 minutes, and track 6 targets simultaneously. He added that it can shoot targets at an altitude of 27 km or 17 miles off the ground. It is evident that the A2AD systems are a real challenge to the U.S military when it comes to enforcing air superiority.
ANTI RADIATION MISSILE
ARM or Anti Radiation Missile is seen as a counter to advance air defense systems This kind of missile is designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed to be used against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications also can be targeted during this manner. This kind of missile is commonly carried by specialist aircraft in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role.
The primary purpose of this type of missile is to degrade enemy air defenses within the playing period of conflict so as to extend the probabilities of survival for the subsequent waves of strike aircraft. They can also be used to quickly shut down unexpected surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites during an ongoing air raid. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
Radars are like eyes of the air defense and once it is taken out, it becomes severely handicapped. Often, SEAD escort aircraft also carry cluster bombs, which may be wont to make sure that, after the ARM disables the SAM system's radar, the general headquarters, missile launchers, and other components or equipment also are destroyed to ensure that the SAM site stays down.
BACKGROUND
AARGM-ER is an air-launched weapon intended to destroy enemy air defense systems, such as radar-guided surface-to-air missile batteries. The U.S Navy’s FY 2016 budget included funding for an extended range AARGM-ER. Development funding was provided until 2020.
In September 2016, Orbital ATK unveiled its extended-range AARGM-ER, which includes a redesigned control section and a 290 mm diameter rocket motor. This resulted in increased range and also enables the missile to be carried in the internal carriage on the Lockheed Martin F-35A and F-35C Lightning II. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
It is to be noted that the missile can’t be internally carried on F-35B due to space limitations. The U.S. Navy awarded Orbital ATK a contract for AARGM-ER development in January 2018. The USAF has formally joined the AARGM-ER program and is involved in internal F-35A/F-35C integration work.
AARGM-ER
AARGM offers improved capabilities over the HARM systems it replaces, including advanced signal processing, improved frequency coverage, detection range, and field of view; time-critical, standoff strike; missile-impact zone control to prevent collateral damage; counter-emitter shutdown through active millimeter-wave radar terminal guidance; and bomb damage assessment.
The AARGM features new software and enhanced capabilities to counter jamming through Electronic Warfare. Previous versions of the missile could be spoofed by turning off the radar before the weapon could lock on to their signals. The missile has been fully production since 2012. AARGM-ER uses the same sensors, electronics, and warheads as its predecessor, the AARGM.
However, differences include a larger rocket engine and tail upgrades to extend its range and improve its maneuverability. The missile also has its mid-body wings removed and replaced with a short strake along its length. Northrop Grumman started AARGM-ER engineering and manufacturing work about a year ago. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
It is an extended-range version of the current AARGM weapon. AARGM-ER has a range of 150 km or 92 miles whereas AARGM will have a range of 300 km or around 185 miles Keeping this in view it is considered a standoff weapon, meaning it should be able to out-range an adversary’s air defense missiles. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
ANALYSIS
F 35 armed with AARGM-ER will be a lethal combo for any air defense system including S 400. S 400 uses multiple radars depending on threat perception. The main radar is complimented by target acquisition radars like 67N6 Gamma De and 9N6 Protivnik Ge radars in L band, Nebo SVU in the Very High-Frequency band and Nebo m & Zebu M in multiband.
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| AARGM-ER fitted on F-16 |
Nebo SVU & Zebu M is touted to have the ability to detect stealth aircraft. But there is a catch, even if some radars are able to detect F-35, they will find it very hard to track it and have radar lock.
Readers may note that to target an aircraft, quality tracking is needed so that the missiles can be guided towards it. It is highly unlikely that this kind of radar tracking can be achieved by any existing system at such a long-range of around 185 miles or 300 km. F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400 F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400 F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400 F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400 F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400 F35s ARMED WITH AARGM-ER ANTI RADIATION MISSILE TO TAKE ON S 400
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