Launch, intercept, destroy-land-based air defence. (Complete Guide).

The effective defence of both fixed and mobile ground targets against the threats posed by missiles and aircraft favours a multi-layered approach. The need for improvements in medium- and long-range interception capability is emphasised by the growing use of stand-off radar platforms and jamming aircraft, stealth bombers, and by the abandoning of direct attacks by manned aircraft in favour of stand-off, cruise and ballistic missiles.

For the purposes of the following discussion, it is understood that Shorads (short-range air defence systems, discussed in Armada 2/2002) typically engage incoming aircraft and missiles at around ten kilometres, although some may stretch to 20 km. It is also given that long-range air defence systems are capable of more than 75 km, and that medium-range systems fill the gap, intercepting at 20 to 75 km.

Hawk

The classic Western medium-range Sam is the Raytheon MIM-23B Hawk (Homing All-the-Way Killer), which is believed to have a maximum range in the region of 40 km. The Hawk is widely used, serving with the US Army and Marine Corps and the services of 20 other nations, including seven members of Nato. The Hawk is a semi-active radar homing missile launched from a wheeled trailer. The standard US Marine Corps battery or US Army platoon has four three-round launchers. Either unit can fire its missiles at an average interval of less than five seconds, but in its initial form can engage only two targets simultaneously.

The basic Hawk system employs four different radars. Search is conducted by a pulse acquisition radar (Par) in the case of medium or high altitude targets, and a continuous-wave acquisition radar (Cwar) for low-flying targets. If either of these is subjected to jamming that denies target range information, it can be supported by a range-only radar. The designated targets are tracked and illuminated by a high-power illuminator (HPI) radar.

The Hawk entered service in 1960, and has been used operationally in the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, and the Iran-Iraq war. The US Marine Corps deployed two Hawk battalions in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The Hawk has gone through a series of major upgrades. The Phase I upgrade that began in 1977 brought improvements to the Par and Cwar. The Phase II of 1983 introduced a series of R&M (reliability and maintainability) improvements, with special reference to the HPI.

The current Phase III is described as providing increased firepower, further enhanced R&M and integrated air defence capability through the use of digital computers. The associated changes include the removal of the range-only radar. Developed for the US Army and Marine Corps, the Phase III can provide some defence capability against short-range ballistic missiles, if linked to a long-range 3D radar such as the Raytheon MPQ-64, and if the weapon used is the Hawk ILM (improved lethality modification) with larger (35 gram) warhead fragments.

The Phase III treatment is also being applied to the Hawk systems of some existing international customers, such as France and Greece. The Phase III Cwar provides single-scan target detection, reducing the time required to find the target by over 50 per cent. The upgrade kit for the HPI radar (Raytheon MPQ-61) includes a new Low Altitude Simultaneous Hawk Engagement (Lashe) antenna, which allows the system to engage twelve targets at the same time. US Marine Corps Hawk batteries have an improved Lockheed Martin TPS-59(V)3 3D surveillance radar that can track tactical ballistic missiles at 750 km. Egyptian Hawk radars have also been upgraded to -59(V)3 standard.

In the case of the Greek Phase III upgrade, Raytheon is teamed with Norway's Kongsberg, which is responsible for the new fire direction centre (FDC) that replaces the current Hawk command post. This improves interoperability with the Raytheon Patriot long-range air defence system, which Greece has also selected. Denmark is introducing the Danish Enhanced Hawk (Dehawk), developed by Terma, as an interim system, pending a switch to either the Raytheon AIM-120 or MBDA Aster 30 missile.

US Marine Corps Hawks have an upgraded video tracker based on a CCD (charge-coupled device) that can lock on to aircraft at over 100 km. German and Dutch Hawk batteries have been supplied with an Atlas electro-optical day/night acquisition and tracking system to overcome radar jamming and increase effectiveness against multiple targets. In a joint mobility-enhancement programme by the US and the Netherlands (later adopted by Sweden), the launcher has been modified to allow it to be towed with missiles in place, the towing vehicle is a new transporter/loader based on a five-tonne truck carrying three further missiles and a crane.

Amraam

Future plans for the Hawk centre on combining it with Raytheon's AIM-120, as in the case of the Raytheon/Kongsberg Hawk-Amraam air defence system, which has been offered to the Royal Netherlands Air Force and Army. This retains the Hawk on some three-round launchers, while other launchers in the same battery are modified to mount eight AIM-120s. The AIM-120s are employed to intercept multiple high-speed low-level targets, and provide a minimum firing interval of less than two seconds and a range of around 20 km. This combination of missiles retains the longer range and higher altitude capabilities of the Hawk, as well as the superior terminal effectiveness of the Hawk ILM round against targets of low radar cross-section. The Hawk-Amraam system employs the Raytheon MPQ-64 3D pencil-beam radar and the MPQ-61 HPI.

In the case of Nasams (Norwegian advanced surface-to-air missile system), the AIM-120 is employed in six-round canisters without the Hawk but with the Kongsberg FDC referred to earlier (also used in the Hawk-Amraam system). It employs the Raytheon MPQ-64 surveillance radar and the TPQ-36A acquisition and tracking radar, together with the vehicle-mounted Norwegian Tracking Adjunct System using infrared cameras. The system is operated by both the Royal Norwegian Air Force (Nasams-I) and the Army (Nasams-II). In 2000, Kongsberg was contracted to supply four similar fire units for the Spanish Air Force.

Mounted on the M1097 Hummer, the Raytheon AIM-120 is also to be used in the US Marine Corps Complementary Low Altitude Weapon System (Claws), which will be employed in conjunction with the Raytheon Stinger-armed Boeing Avenger Vshorads. In April 2001, Raytheon (having previously demonstrated a five-missile vehicle prototype) was awarded the Claws development and pre-production contract by the US Marine Corps Systems Command. This 24-month programme is to produce two production-representative launchers to validate performance and integration requirements. The launch vehicle is equipped with a GPS receiver, and in the US Marine Corps case will take target data from the Raytheon Multi-Role Radar System, which is also Hummer-mounted. The US Marine corps website refers to the launcher having "a minimum of four" Amraams. The Claws is intended to provide beyond-visual range defence against cruise missiles, UAVs and other advanced threats.

Kub/Kvadrat

The closest Russian equivalent of Hawk is the 9K12 Kub (SA-6) system and its descendants, although the Kub (Cube) family is based on tracked vehicles, rather than trailers. The Kub was developed by NIIP at Zhukovsky, but was produced by the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant. The first units appeared in 1967 and entered service around 1970. The missile is boosted to supersonic speed by a rocket motor and then switches to ramjet propulsion. It is directed toward the target by command guidance, with semi-active radar homing for the terminal phase. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, The Kub was responsible for the destruction of many Israeli aircraft, that is, until the Israelis discovered that the four 2P25 Tel (transporter-erector-launcher) vehicles, each carrying three ready-to-fire rounds, could be put out of action by destroying the battery's 1S91 (Straight Flush) radar vehicle. Syrian forces also employed the Kub during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, but its radars are believed to have been jammed successfully.

The Kub was exported to at least 23 countries as the Kvadrat. The Soviets appear to have allocated to this initial version of the series a low security classification, as several countries (including Israel, the United Kingdom and United States) are believed to have acquired examples for testing. Britain, for example, reportedly test-fired eleven SA-6s in the late 1980s.

Although the Kub is being replaced by the Buk-1M (described below), many examples remain in service and Ulyanovsk is marketing upgrades for these older systems. Upgrade options include a 9Sh38 electro-optical tracker mounted on the 1S91M1/M2 control system vehicle, allowing targets to be engaged at up to 25 km without radar surveillance and tracking. The control system is upgraded from analogue to digital data processing, and automatically classifies targets as air breathing (AB), ballistic missile (BM) or helicopters (H). Ulyanovsk also offers the improved 3M9M3 missile, which provides 20 to 25 per cent more range and doubles the maximum intercept altitude to 46,000 ft. Demonstrating that the SA-6 is still a viable system, an F-16 was shot down by a Kub unit (in Bosnia) as recently as 1995.

Buk

In 1979, production at Ulyanovsk switched to the 9K37M Buk (SA-11), which was designed to replace both the Kub and the longer range (70 km) 9M8 Krug (Circle) or SA-4, which also originated in the early 1960s. The Buk (Beech) entered service in the mid-1980s and overcame the fundamental vulnerability of its predecessor by equipping each firing unit with its own tracking and illumination radar.

The missile for the 9K37M1 Buk-M1 system is the rocket-powered 9M38M1, designed by the Dolgoprudny Research Production Enterprise (DNPP). It boasts a top speed of Mach 3.5, an outer limit range of 32 km and a maximum altitude of 72,000 ft. The system has a launch weight of 690 kg and carries a 70 kg warhead.

The Buk system is based on the use of the MT-S tracked chassis. A Buk battery normally consists of a 9S470M1 command post, a 9S18M1 target acquisition radar, six 9A310M1 firing units with four ready-to-fire missiles and three 9A39M1 reloader/launcher vehicles, each carrying eight missiles. The 9A39M1 can be used as a supplementary fire unit, but has no radar, and thus relies for missile guidance on a nearby 9A310M1. A battery is equipped with 72 rounds, the remainder being carried on KrAZ-255B 6 x 6 trucks, which can each supply up to eight missiles. Four batteries form a regiment, which normally has a long-range surveillance radar such as the Nitel Nebo-SV (1L13-3).

The 9K37M1-2 or Buk-M1-2 (SA-17), which was recently exhibited at Asian Aerospace 2002, represents a major advance, combining the new DNPP-designed 9M317 missile with a new fire control system developed by Tikhomirov NIIP, and including a laser ranger for passive operation. The new command post is designated 9S470M1-2. This combination allows the Buk-M1-2 to also defend against tactical ballistic missiles with a range up to 150 km and anti-radiation missiles such as the Harm. The 9M317 is a 715 kg missile with a 70 kg warhead. It has a maximum altitude of 82,000 ft and an outside range of 45 km against airborne targets and 20 km against ballistic missiles. Compared to the 9M38M1 missile, it also provides improvements in manoeuvrability and ECM resistance.

The Buk M1-2 was fielded by the Russian Army in 1998 and is marketed internationally both as a completely new system and as firing units that can be integrated with the older Kvadrat. Options include the Orion passive radar system. The 9K40 Ural system (also produced by Ulyanovsk) is reported to be an upgraded Buk, but this may simply be a new designation for the 9K37M1-2.

Samp-T

The systems so far discussed are already in service. The next ground-based medium-range ADS is expected to be the Eurosam Samp-T, sometimes referred to as the Land Saam AD. Eurosam was established in 1989 as a joint venture by Aerospatiale, Alenia Marconi Systems and Thomson-CSF, and is thus now owned by MBDA and Thales. The Samp-T (Sol-Air Moyenne Portee--Terrestre) is a member of the Future Surface-to-Air Family (FSAF) of ADS that is being developed for the French and Italian governments. It is a truck-mounted, air-transportable system based on MBDA Aster 30 missiles fired from vertical launchers, the Thales Arabel radar and the Alenia Zebra monopulse low-frequency high-angle radar. The command module controls up to six launchers, located up to ten kilometres distant and each with eight missiles. The trucks used are the French Renault TRM and the Italian Astra/Iveco.

The Aster 30 has a weight of 445 kg, most of which is associated with a larger tandem boost motor. This launches a 100 kg `dart' carrying a 15 kg blast-fragmentation warhead. It has a maximum range of 70 km against surveillance aircraft, up to 100 km against a jammer and 15 to 25 km against a supersonic manoeuvring aircraft. The Samp-T employs Sagem inertial mid-course guidance with target updates provided by datalink, and active radar terminal homing. The dart's Pif/Paf (pilotage en force/pilotage aerodynamique fort) of lateral jets acting around the centre of gravity provides a load factor of up to 62 G. The battery can engage up to ten targets simultaneously.

The Samp-T can provide an anti-tactical ballistic missile capability against weapons such as the MITT 9K52 Luna-M (Frog-7) and KBM 9K79 Tochka (SS-21a Scarab), i.e., missiles of less than 100 km range. The Block 1 is being developed to deal with ballistic missiles of 500 to 600 km range, i.e., the Makeyev 9K72 (SS-1 Scud). Service entry is scheduled for 2005. The Block 2 is being studied to counter ballistic missiles in the 1000 to 2000 km range.

The initial Samp-T production orders are expected to cover 15 units for the French Army, 15 for the Italian Army (likewise replacing the Hawk) and 14 for the French Air Force, replacing the Crotale in airfield defence.

Meads

Despite the Italian Army's apparent commitment to the Franco-Italian Samp-T, the Italian Air Force supports the Meads (pronounced Me-Ads) programme, which formally began in 1996 with an agreement between the US, Germany and Italy to collaborate on the development of this easily deployed Medium Extended Air Defence System, sharing the costs on a 60-28-17 basis. In US Army service, the Meads is to replace the Patriot. The trilateral agreement marked the start of a 27-month project definition and validation phase in which two teams were awarded $ 80 million contracts.

For the second (risk-reduction) phase, in May 1999 the Meads International team led by Lockheed Martin was awarded a $216 million 32.5-month contract by the Nato Meads Management Agency (Nameadsma). Meads International is owned on a 50:50 basis by Lockheed Martin and EuroMeads, which is a joint venture comprised of Italy's MBDA-I and Germany's Eads/LFK.

The award of the risk-reduction contract followed the political decision to reduce the cost of the Meads programme by adopting the Pac-3 missile (developed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control - Dallas for the Raytheon Patriot system) in combination with an improved mobility launcher. The Raytheon Patriot programme was discussed in some detail in Armada 5/99. The Pac-2 was introduced in early 1991 and was used to intercept Iraqi Scud ballistic missiles during Desert Storm. The Pac-3 is a much smaller hit-to-kill missile, allowing a launcher to carry 16 weapons in place of four Pac-2s. This body-to-body kill is achieved by a battery of 180 small attitude-control rockets in the front fuselage, used in conjunction with the fixed tail surfaces that give a three-Hertz roll-rate.

Development testing of the Pac-3 was completed in October 2001. It entered low-rate initial production (Lrip) for the US Army in late 1999. Some 154 missiles have been contracted for in this phase and the first unit was equipped in September 2001. A decision for full-rate production is expected in September 2002. The US Army plans to equip each Patriot fire unit with six Pac-2 and two Pac-3 launchers. Earlier Patriot systems have been sold to Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. It may be added that Taiwan is reported to have developed and placed in service a silo-housed Patriot derivative known as Tien Kung (Sky Bow). At time of writing, Raytheon is working to conclude a Patriot sale to South Korea based on the improved Pac-3, the stumbling-block being funding shortfalls resulting from that country's F-15K purchase.

During the testing of the new Pac-3 there have been eleven consecutive successful firings, five of which involved body-to-body intercepts of tactical ballistic missiles, three represented cruise missile kills and one destroyed a target representing an attack aircraft.

Following statements of intent to purchase by Germany and the Netherlands (for 200 and 128 PAC-3s respectively), Lockheed Martin placed offset work in those countries, and the first German components were shipped to the United States during Lrip-1. To manage the offset programme and support the Pac-3 in German Air Force service, Lockheed Martin and Eads/ LFK have formed a joint company, Gesellschaft filr Luftverteidigungs Systeme (GLVS). German work on the Pac-3 includes Thomson travelling wave tubes, Diehl thermal batteries and a joint effort by LFK and TDW on the `lethality enhancer', which expands the 255 mm diameter of the missile as a hedge against last-minute manoeuvres by air-breathing threats.

A German Parliamentary decision taken in June 2001 to support the Meads risk-reduction effort has delayed that nation's procurement of the Pac-3 (which was to have covered 200 rounds and 13 launch station modification kits in Calendar 2002), perhaps by two years. The Dutch decision to purchase has yet to be confirmed.

The goals of the second phase are to demonstrate the validity of the chosen concept, investigate whether the concept is achievable on a realistic timescale, investigate critical areas of technology and establish reliable cost data for development and procurement, providing the basis for a decision on whether or not to continue the project.

The US Army has requested $150.8 million for Meads R&D in FY2003, but (as the programme is currently envisaged) the seven-year engineering and manufacturing development phase will not start until early 2004, leading to production beginning around 2012. Although Germany probably welcomes the delay in funding demand, this timescale does not meet the needs of the Italian Army, which plans to acquire at least six Meads batteries to replace the elderly Nike Hercules and is considering leasing the Patriot from the German Air Force or US Army as an interim system, or acquiring the Samp-T Block 1.

Lockheed Martin has proposed that the Meads programme should be compressed to bring service entry forward by several years, with four battalions delivered to the US Army between 2012 and 2014 and the remaining seven in the following four years. Raytheon, which failed to be selected for Meads, has proposed an alternative Patriot Light system designed to allow deployment in the C-130 rather than the C-5. As part of this redesign, the command and radar modules would be moved from five-tonne trucks to the HMMWV, and the antenna would be redesigned to fit inside the C-130. The Patriot Light could be fielded relatively quickly but depends on the US Army funding its development.

Assuming the Meads programme goes forth, the standard battery will consist of six launch trucks (each with twelve vertically-launched missiles), two tactical operations centres, a UHF surveillance radar and two X-band fire control radars. Both types of radar have rotatable active phased-array antennas, whereas the Patriot radars are fixed and scan only a 90-degree azimuth sector. Deployment will require 38 C.160, 20 C-130 or 5 C-17 sorties.

The Meads is intended to deal with a wide range of targets, many of which do not justify the relatively high cost of the Pac-3 missile. Based on a production rate of 20 missiles per month, Lockheed Martin is aiming to reduce unit cost below $ two million, but it would still be an expensive way to deal with (for example) a UAV or decoy drone. Several companies (including Meads International) are considering less expensive complements for the Pac-3, using the same fire control system as the Patriot the Meads. These projects include the surface-launched Amraam (Slamraam), a ground-launched MBDA Meteor and a vertically launched BGT Iris-T with an enlarged rocket motor.

Despite the on-going Samp-T and Meads programmes, Nato is considering a means to field a layered theatre missile defence system for its deployed forces by 2010, forming part of the alliance's Extended Air Defence/Theatre Air and Missile Defence (Ead/Tamd) Concept. Feasibility study contracts have been awarded for 18-month investigations by two transatlantic industry teams, which began work in July 2001. Team Janus is led by Lockheed Martin, the other members being Astrium, BAE Systems, Eads-LFK, MBDA and TRW. The second team, led by Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), includes Boeing, Diehl, Eads, Britain's QinetiQ and the Dutch company TNO. It is planned to produce one (or more) Nato Staff Requirement(s) by 2004 with a view to achieving initial operational capability (IOC) by 2010.

Older Russian Systems

Most of the systems so far discussed have been relatively modern developments. However, it should be noted that there are still some old medium- and long-range Russian Sams in service, which provide a market for upgrades and maintain a degree of effectiveness.

For example, the Almaz S-75M Volkhov (SA-2F) is a relatively heavy system, based on a 2400kg Fakel-designed radio command-guided missile with a solid propellant tandem booster, a liquid fuel sustainer motor and with a range of 30 km. The S-75, exported under the name Dvina, attained IOC with Soviet forces in 1958 and was first employed operationally over North Vietnam in 1966. Iraqi SA-2 systems are believed to have introduced a longer range missile in the late 1990s, and recent reports indicate that Chinese assistance has been provided to upgrade the Iraqi ADS with fibre-optic links, improved radars and boost motors and infrared terminal guidance seekers.

The Almaz S-125 Neva-M (SA-3B) is a much lighter system, using a 950 kg Fakel radio command-guided missile with a solid fuel booster and sustainer. Two rounds (increased to three or four in later systems) are carried by the same type of truck that acts as a tractor for the single-round SA-1 or SA-2 trailer. Some 400 S-125 systems were exported under the name Pechora to 35 countries, including Cuba, Egypt, India, Iraq, Libya, Peru, Syria and Vietnam.

Almaz was part of an industrial consortium designated IFIG-OS (Interstate Financial and Industrial Group--Defensive Systems/Oboronitelnye Sistemy), until 23 April 2002, but is now integrated in the Almaz-Antey Defence group. IFIG-OS will from now on be responsible for the joint Russian-Belarus development of, inter alia, an upgraded Pechora-2. The missiles used are the improved 5V24 (V-600) and the 5V27 (V-601), with a redesigned booster using a new type of propellant that increases range to 27 km, a new warhead that triples lethality and an improved radar proximity fuze with greater ECM resistance and improved effectiveness against low-flying targets. The analogue avionics of the original Pechora are replaced by solid-state hardware from the S-300PMU-1 system (discussed later), providing improved reliability and a reduction in maintenance. The addition of a thermal imager makes possible passive night engagements. The new system includes a 5P73-2M self-propelled launcher, which is based on the MZKT-8021 chassis. The upgraded UNK-2M command post vehicle can accept target data from the basic or modernised P-12 (1RL14), P-15 (1RL13), P-18 (1RL131) or P-19 (1RL134) radars. The Pechora-2 upgrade programme has been launched by an Egyptian order worth up to $ 200 million and involving 27 companies in Russia and Belarus.

An indigenous upgrade has been developed for Poland's S-125s by the Warsaw Military Academy of Technology, with emphasis on increased mobility. In this improved system (designated Newa-SC), a quadruple SA-3 launcher is mounted on a modified T-55 chassis, and the SNR-125M tracking radar, equipped with a licence-produced Thales IFF interrogator, is mounted on a Maz-543 truck, formerly used as an R-300 (Scud) launcher.

In June 2001, it was announced that there would be a series of joint exercises by the United Air Defence System (UADS) of the Commonwealth of Independent States (a service formed in 1995), represented by units from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The exercises were to include live firings of the Grushin S-200V (SA-5) and Almaz S-300P (SA-10). On 4 October 2001, a Tu-154 of Sibir Airlines, while en route from Tel Aviv to its base at Novosibirsk, crashed into the Black Sea with the loss of 78 lives, evidently having been shot down by a stray Ukrainian S-200 fired from Opuk in the Crimea.

Although generally credited to Grushin, the S-200 Angara (SA-5) was developed by Almaz. It is believed that it was deployed as a long-range air defence system for Leningrad and Tallinn (Estonia) in the early 1960s, and that the version delivered to Syria after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon was an anti-radiation missile, developed to destroy AEW&C aircraft such as the E-2C. A similar system deployed in Eastern Europe in 1985 is thought to have been intended as a counter to the Nato E-3 Awacs, deliveries of which began in 1982. The S-200 is a massive weapon, weighing around 7000 kg with four wrap-around boost motors and providing a firing range in the region of 250 km. It has command guidance for the mid-course phase, and active or passive radar for terminal homing.

S-300P

In their late-1960s planning for next-generation long-range air defences, the Soviets decided to develop three systems to suit fixed, battlefront an maritime applications. The system developped for the Air Defence Forces to protect fixed targets was the wheeled vehicle Almaz S-300P (SA-10).

The initial production system was built as both the trailer-mounted towed S-300PT and the self-propelled S-300PS. Deliveries began in 1978, and IOC was attained in 1980. Around 100 S-300P air defence sites were constructed in the Soviet Union, primarily to protect command and control centres and industrial complexes. The S-300P employed the vertically launched, 1450 kg command-guided Fakel 5V55K, a single-stage solid propellant missile that provided an outward range of approximately 50 km. The missile's standard warhead was a 100 kg fragmentation device, but a low-yield tactical nuclear warhead was also available.

A major advancement was provided by the introduction in the mid-1980s of the Fakel 5V55R missile with semi-active radar guidance and a maximum range of 75 km. The modified system was accordingly redesignated S-300PM (SA-10B). In 1994, at least one S-300PM system was obtained by the US Army for testing.

As a result of the US Army's use of the Raytheon Patriot to intercept Iraqi Scud ballistic missiles during the 1991 Gulf War, Russia evaluated the S-300PM against theatre ballistic missiles. Some improvements were subsequently introduced and it was claimed that the upgraded S-300PMU (SA-10C) is superior to Patriot in the ATBM context. The principal change was the development of the Fakel 5V55U missile, in which the normal concept of semi-active radar guidance is replaced by a track-via-missile system, as pioneered by Patriot. In essence, the target radar reflections received by the missile are data-linked to the ground for processing by a more sophisticated computer. Maximum effective range was simultaneously increased to 90 km.

The S-300PMU1 (SA-10D, reportedly now redesignated SA-20) is the principal version currently offered for international sales by Rosoboronexport. Based on the new Fakel 48N6E missile with a 143 kg warhead, it provides a maximum firing range of 150 km. The S-300PMU1 may well have been the model ordered by China in 1994 and redesignated HQ-9. It is believed that at least 100 missiles were delivered and deployed around Beijing. Reports indicate that there have been discussions of licence-production in China of a later model under the designation HQ-10 or HQ-15.

The S-300PMU1 was demonstrated successfully at Idex '93, and was the subject of a $ 437 million Greek Cypriot contract that was signed in January 1996. Following threats from Turkey to destroy the missiles by air strikes at the port of delivery, and intense diplomatic pressure from the United States, the Cypriot missiles were installed 600 km away in Crete, where they pose a threat to no one. In 1995, India began negotiating to buy the S-300PMU1. Some sources indicate that this led to a $ one billion purchase of six batteries with 48 missiles each, deliveries beginning in June 1996. Iran has been discussing the purchase of the S-300PMU1 since 2001. Other potential customers include Libya and Syria, although the US would certainly oppose such sales.

In mid-2001 there was a report that Israel, fearing that neighbouring Arab countries would acquire the S-300PMU1 system, had assisted Croatia financially in acquiring what eventuated as an incomplete system for use in its struggle for independence from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Some radar elements of the system were delivered to Croatia by air in late 1994, and Israel obtained key components that allowed Rafael and IMI to develop countermeasures, including the Improved Tactical Air-Launched Decoy. The US Air Force director of requirements, Major General `Dan' Leaf, is reported as having said that the service may face "an adversary with SA-20-class capabilities before 2010".

In Russian service, an S-300PMU1 regiment consists of three batteries and an 83M6E control centre, linked to a 64N6E three-dimensional long-range search radar, which can track up to 100 targets at up to 300 km range. The 64N6E was developed by the Measuring Instruments Research Institute (NIIIP) at Novosibirsk. The control centre may also be linked to a 36D6 surveillance radar. A typical battery has a 30N6E1 illumination and guidance radar and eight (although some batteries have twelve) 5P85ME/SE launchers, each with four ready-to-fire 48N6E missiles. The battery can simultaneously engage up to six aircraft targets, guiding up to twelve missiles. It can also engage airborne targets as high as 88,600 ft and as low as 33 ft. It can defend against theatre ballistic missiles with a speed of up to 2800 metres/sec, providing intercepts at up to an altitude of 82,000 ft and out to a range of 40 km. Another system mentioned in the context of the S-300PMU series is the Lianozovo Electromechanical Plant (Lemz) 96L6E low-altitude search and track radar and command post. Mounted on a Maz-7930 chassis, the phased array antenna operates by rotating mechanically in azimuth, while three beams scan 60 degrees in elevation. The 96L6E radar has a range of 300 km and can automatically track up to 100 targets.

The S-300PMU2 (SA-20 Follow-On) was first tested in 1995 and was unveiled at Maks '97. It introduced a new 3D radar (Lira 96L6E) and the improved Fakel 48N6E2 Favorit missile. This new weapon weighs 1800 kg and carries a 145 kg warhead that is optimised for destroying ballistic missiles. It has a range of 200 km and a maximum altitude of 88,600 ft. In early 2001, it was stated that air defences in the Moscow district would be shortly upgraded by means of the Favorit-S missile system.

There have been references to an S-300PMU3, which may be the S-300PMU2 upgraded with the missiles from the S-400 Triumph system. The latter was test-fired at the Kapustin Yar range in early 1999. It appears to use much smaller missiles: the 300kg 9M96E with a range of 40 km, and the 400 kg 9M96E2 with a range of 120 km. The launcher can accommodate 16 missiles. This new weapon series has side-acting jets for increased manoeuvrability and a directional fragmentation warhead. The lighter version is reported to use active radar guidance while the longer-range model can use either active or passive radar homing. There have been suggestions that the 9M96 series will later be replaced by a new missile with a range of up to 400 km. In early 2001, when the S-400 was still going through field trials, it was announced that one of the Moscow district air defence units was to be equipped with the Triumph system, but that large-scale deliveries would begin only after 2007.

There have also been some reports of an S-500 project as an upgraded S-400, capable of engaging ballistic missiles with a range of up to 3500 km. However, the high development cost of the S-500 is said to be beyond Russia's means, leading to a proposal that it should proceed as a joint programme with America.

S-300V

Whereas the Almaz/IFIG-OS S-300P series was developed for the Air Defence Forces to protect fixed installations, the S-300V system was developed by Niemi (later Antey) for the Army to provide defence over the battle area. It was therefore based on tracked (rather than wheeled) vehicles, and--unlike the S-300P--it was required from the outset to have some capability against theatre ballistic missiles.

The S-300V was designed to employ two types of missile, both designed by Novator. The Type I or 9M82 (SA-12B) was developed for use against theatre ballistic missiles with speeds up to 3000 metres/sec and docile aircraft targets at ranges up to 100 km, while the much lighter and shorter Type II or 9M83 (SA-12A), which entered service in 1986, was intended to deal with manoeuvring (8.0 G) targets at up to 75 km. Both designs are two-stage missiles with a largely common second stage, but different tandem boost motors. The warhead weight is approximately 150 kg in both cases, but the Type I has larger fragments for enhanced effectiveness against ballistic missiles. Both have inertial mid-course guidance with data-linked target updates and semi-active radar terminal homing. The two types of TEL are basically similar, but the 9A82 carries two 9M82 missiles, while the 9A83 carries four of the smaller 9M83s. In the case of the 9A82, the command guidance radar is mounted over the cab, providing 90-degree cover on either side in azimuth and 100 degrees in elevation. For the 9A83, the antenna is mounted on a folding mast, providing full hemispherical cover.

At the heart of an S-300V regiment is a 9S457M command station, which can simultaneously engage 24 aircraft targets out of 200 detected and 70 tracked, guiding up to 48 missiles against them. It can control up to four batteries, located ten kilometres distant. The command post is fed with target data from a 9S15MTZ surveillance radar (developed by NIIIP), which can detect aircraft out to 320 km. Its antenna sweeps through 360 degrees in azimuth in less than nine seconds, covering 55 degrees in elevation. Its inputs are augmented by those from a 9S19ME sector-scan radar, with a phased-array antenna producing a beam that moves through 75 degrees in elevation and 60 degrees in azimuth, illuminating any target once per second. It can track 20 targets out to 175 km and can identify three jammers.

Each battery has a 9S32-1 phased-array missile guidance radar, which can track up to twelve aircraft and serve up to six Tels (typically two 9A82s and four 9A83s) and six 9A84/9A85 launcher/ loader vehicles, which have cranes to transfer their missiles, and lack the radars of the Tels. Rosoboronexport gives a single-shot kill probability of 70 to 90 per cent against airborne targets and 40 to 70 per cent against ballistic missiles.

Efforts to sell the S-300V system to Kuwait, South Korea and the UAE have been unsuccessful, but reports suggest that India is now negotiating the purchase or lease of a small number of S-300V systems. It is believed that Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine all have the system, but that only Russia has the Type I missile. There have been unconfirmed reports of an HQ-18 Chinese copy of the S-300V. After the 1991 Gulf War the Type I was tested successfully against modified Makeyev 9K72 (SS-1C Scud-Bs) with a range of 600 km, to simulate Iraq's Al Hussein missile. Antey's general designer has stated that two S-300V batteries were sold to a small US company in late 1994, but that only a few missiles and launchers were delivered, not the phased-array sector-scan radar.

In marketing the S-300V in competition with the Patriot with Pac-3 missiles, it is claimed that the Russian system defends a larger area (2000 vs. 1200 square kilometres) and is deployed more quickly (5 vs. 30 minutes). Conversely, it is admitted that the Pac-3 missile has a longer range against aircraft (150 vs. 100 km).

The S-300VM represents a major upgrade, with 9M82M and 9M83M missiles and the improved 9S15M2 surveillance and 9S19M sector-scan radar. The missiles have larger boosters, giving increased peak speeds and manoeuvrability (up from 20 to 30 G). The range of the 9M82M is 200 km, and the defended area is increased to 2500 square kilometres. The export version of the S-300VM is designated Antey-2500.

China

China's only long-range air defence missile is thought to be the FT-2000, with a range of 100 km and a launch weight of 1300 kg. Marketed by the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Company (CNPMIEC), the FT-2000 is a passive radar homing weapon, developed to intercept airborne early warning and stand-off jamming aircraft. Some observers are of the belief that China is planning to produce the S-300PMU1 under licence, retaining the HQ-9 designation of missiles delivered directly from Russia.

Going Ballistic

Some of the systems so far described have an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) capability in addition to their original objective of defending against airborne threats. However, other missile systems have been designed from the outset specifically for the ABM role.

The 1972 ABM Treaty between America and the Soviet Union restricted each side to a single 100-weapon point defence system. America briefly installed the Safeguard system with Spartan and Sprint nuclear-tipped missiles to defend an ICBM site near Grand Forks, North Dakota. The unit was decommissioned in 1976, partly due to concern over the effects of the warheads exploding over US territory.

In 1968, the Soviet Union had installed the 64-silo ABM-1 system at four sites around Moscow, using SH-01 Galosh missiles. This was replaced in the 1980s by the ABM-3 or A-135 Moscow Industrial Area ABM Defense System at seven sites, using 36 exo-atmospheric three-stage Vympel 51T6/SH-11 Gorgon (Russian name Baton) and 64 quick-reaction two-stage Vympel 53T6/SH-08 Gazelle endo-atmospheric missiles in combination with new phased-array radars. Both missile types are silo-fired and equipped with solid fuel motors. They initially had nuclear warheads (550 and ten kilotons respectively), but in 1997-98 the A-135 system was stood down briefly, reportedly so the nuclear devices could be replaced by conventional warheads.

Arrow

The third nation to field an ABM system was Israel, whose first IAI Arrow II battery was declared operational in October 2000. A second battery was formed hastily in September 2001, in the light of the possibility of US strikes against certain Arab countries. A third battery is to be fielded before 2010.

Israeli work on the Arrow Weapon System (AWS) to defend against TBMs began in 1986 and was accelerated after the 1991 Gulf War, with America paying roughly half the cost of what is estimated to be a $ 2.2 billion programme. The basic elements of the AWS are the two-stage Arrow II missile, produced by the MLM Division of IAI, the Elta EL/ M-2080 Green Pine L-band fire control radar (FCR), and the IAI/MLM Hazelnut Tree launch control centre (LCC). IAI is responsible for the Tel, a towed wheeled vehicle with six vertically-launched missiles, housed in a cluster of sealed canisters.

Unlike the Pac-3, the Arrow II is a two-stage, high endo-atmospheric area-coverage missile with a limited shoot-look-shoot capability. It has thrust-vector control and a gimbal-mounted fragmentation warhead.

The next stage of development is the Asip (Arrow Systems Improvement Programme), which is intended to deal with manoeuvring warheads, decoys and specifically Iran's Shahab-4. The latter, having a range of 2000 km, is a much faster target than the 1000 km Shahab-3, which the present Arrow II is intended to defend against. Asip development began in 2000 and should be completed around 2007.

In an effort to reduce missile cost and increase production rate, IAI began discussions on possible co-production with US contractors in early 2000. Boeing is the favoured partner; although in January 2001 that company announced that discussions had been put on hold pending the resolution of technology transfer issues. In March this year, Turkey began fresh talks with Israel about the possible procurement of the AWS. India and South Korea are also reported to be interested.

Son of Star Wars

America's efforts to develop a system for defence against ballistic missiles began in 1983 with President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This relied on space-based sensors and weapons, hence SDI was informally dubbed `Star Wars'. However, the concept of Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (Gpals) proved over-ambitious, and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organisation (BMDO, recently renamed the Missile Defense Agency or MDA) switched its attention to theatre BMD and focused its efforts on developing the technology for a National Missile Defense (NMD) system that requires no space-based missiles.

Effective defence relies on a multiphase approach, combining systems to destroy attacking missiles in the boost, mid-course and terminal phases. America's next ground-based BMD system to enter service may well be the US Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), for which Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is prime contractor. The project definition and risk-reduction phase began in 1995, and the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase is due to begin in 2003, followed by the resumption of flight tests in 2004, low-rate initial production of up to 40 missiles per year around 2006 and full-rate production of up to 320 missiles per year from 2008. A test firing in August 1999 provided the first successful exo-atmospheric intercept, the target being destroyed at over 100 km altitude.

Thaad, described as the world's first endo/exo-atmospheric system, will provide much higher intercepts and will cover a far larger area than the Patriot point defence system. A truck-mounted system, Thaad is designed to be easily deployed, only the launcher requiring the outsize hold of a C-141, C-17 or C-5, while all other modules will fit in a C-130. The US Army is particularly interested in high endo-atmospheric (40 to 100 km) intercepts, where the air is so thin that the target cannot manoeuvre effectively, but thick enough for an infrared sensor to discriminate the warhead from associated decoys. The baseline C-1 Thaad is to be fielded in FY2007, and is expected to be superseded by the improved C-2 with a more powerful Raytheon radar from FY2012. The US Army plans to acquire around 1250 Thaad missiles.

President Clinton's National Missile Defense (NMD) Act of 1995 paved the way for the US to withdraw from the 1972 ABM Treaty in June 2002 and to develop a ground-based interceptor (GBI), which, in combination with advanced ground- and space-based sensors, may at some stage provide midcourse protection for America, its allies and deployed forces against a limited number of ballistic missiles (but not the thousands available to Russia). Boeing is the prime contractor in the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) programme, which is expected to cost around $ 64 billion by 2015. Raytheon is responsible for its exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), and TRW supplies the command and control system.

The EKV is launched by a two-stage booster adapted from a decommissioned Minuteman ICBM. It is guided initially by a ground-based X-band radar, but for the terminal phase employs on-board visual and dual infrared sensors. Lockheed Martin and Orbital Sciences are designing alternative boosters, and a surrogate EKV design is under consideration. Other options include a Multiple Miniature Kill Vehicle (MMKV), for which Schafer was awarded a development and demonstration contract in January 2002.

In the first deployment phase (Cap I) of the GBI programme, ten missiles are to be installed at Fort Greely, Alaska, which may later become the operational command centre. In a worst-case scenario (presumably meaning that North Korea posed a serious threat to the US), Fort Greely could go operational as soon as 2004. Cap II is planned to deploy 100 missiles by 2007, leading to an eventual Cap III total of 250 missiles at multiple US sites.

The first successful GBI test firing took place in October 1999, and the fourth success (in six attempts) occurred in March 2002, when an EKV launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands destroyed the simulated warhead of a Minuteman fired from Vandenberg AFB in California, 7700 km away. The intercept took place at an altitude of over 220 km.

Shorad Late News

News of a recent development involving Rheinmetall's Oerlikon Contraves and Lockheed Martin reached Armada International too late for inclusion in our last supplement on `Land-based Vshorad and Shorad Systems'. The Swiss and American companies have decided to join forces in view of producing and marketing the Millennium gun. As part of this agreement, the revolver cannon-based Millennium turret seen here being assembled at Oerlikon Contraves' last May, will be demonstrated during the US Navy's `Fleet Battle Experiment-Juliet' in July and August. For the purpose of the demonstration the Millennium Turret will be fitted to Lockheed Martin's Sea Slice advanced technology high-speed vessel. Besides demonstrating the abilities of the 35 mm, 1000 round-per-minute revolver cannon and the lethality of the programmable Ahead rounds it can fire, the exercise should also highlight the relatively simple installation of the turret on an existing ship. Primarily intended as an air defence system, the combination of the air-bursting Ahead munition and the high rate of fire revolver cannon also provides a useful means of defence against sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, fast patrol boats and shore based targets, Each Ahead round violently disperses 152 sharp-edged tungsten carbide particles. Recent demonstrations have proved that a properly concentrated cloud of such pellets emanating from a burst of eight rounds made it an insurmountable obstacle for an incoming missile. (Armada/EHB)