Lockheed Martin has released a new video featuring F-35s conducting a deep strike into hostile
territory with the help of Precision Strike Missile or PrSM from HIMRAS
which is used to suppress the enemy's air defense.
Interestingly the air defense system depicted seems to be the Russian S-400 Triumph.
The video essentially displays how the U.S military will take on the adversary in a fast-paced
battle space with multiple assets from different services working together to take on the enemy.
In this video Defense Updates analyses how the U.S military would take out Russian S-400
air defense using F-35 & PrSM armed HIMRAS?
Let's get started.
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S 400 Triumph is an air defense weapon system developed by Russia’s Almaz Central Design
Bureau in the 1990s as an upgrade of the S 300 family.
it has been in service with the Russian armed forces since 2007.
It is designed to defend against aircraft including 5th generation stealth fighters,
bombers, AWACS, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
It is considered one of the most powerful air defense systems in the world.
S-400 uses multiple radars.
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.
The main radar is complimented by target acquisition radars like 67N6 Gamma De and 9N6 Protivnik
Ge radars in the L band, Nebo SVU in the Very High-Frequency band and Nebo m & Zebu M in
multiband.
Nebo SVU & Zebu M are touted to have the ability to detect stealth aircraft.
S 400 deploys multiple missiles to cover its strike envelope and can hit targets at a range
of up to 400 km or 250 miles
The F-35 is considered to be a 'day one’ aircraft as it will be used to knock out hostile
integrated air defenses at the very beginning of a campaign and enable non-stealthy aircraft
to carry out follow-on strikes.
But viewers may not that stealth" does not mean "invisible”.
Stealth makes an aircraft LO or Low Observable making them difficult to detect and track.
F 35 is one of the stealthiest operational jets.
It uses classified techniques to reduce the heat signature.
This thermal profile management of the jet makes it difficult for Infrared (IR) homing
missiles to target it.
Also, F 35 has the lowest Radar Cross Section (RCS) of all the jets except the F 22 Raptor.
But it has vulnerabilities.
• Against x-band radars, it is stealthy from front and rear
• Against S-band radar, it is stealthy from the narrow front aspect
• Against L-band radar, the limited reduction is achieved from direct
front
It is for this reason, airspace protected by S-400 is dangerous for even the F-35 to
access.
The HIMARS or M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System truck is capable of carrying
two PrSM missiles.
PrSM is a 13 foot-long missile designed to provide a long-range, precision-fire capability
to U.S. Army artillery.
The missile employs advanced, jam-resistant GPS and uses a warhead that explodes into
hundreds of preformed fragments, showering the target with shrapnel.
The launcher is C-130 transportable
The initial range of PrSM was capped at 499 km or 310 miles to comply with the INF Treaty.
Col. John Rafferty, the director of PrSM program, in a meeting with reporters at the Association
of the U.S. Army’s convention, had said, “We have worked with our industry partners
to determine what is the feasibility going farther than 499 kilometers and we believe
that it’s entirely possible to go further with the current [PrSM] missile…
Our discussions about advanced propulsion leads us to believe that inside the same form
factor, with a change in propulsion, we could go significantly farther.”
It is likely that in the coming days the range will be enhanced.
The video is basically a commercial—viewers may note that Lockheed Martin manufactures
both the F-35 and PrSM.
The link to the video is provided in the 'Description' section below.
The video shows two F-35s flying towards their target but detects a forward arming and refueling
point (FARP) as well as a surface-to-air missile battery in their path.
Instead of calling off their mission or alter the path, the F-35s contact their Combat Air
Operations Center (CAOC), the Air Force command-and-control base coordinating the mission.
The CAOC puts in a request for artillery fire with a nearby U.S. Army artillery brigade,
providing the coordinates for the missile site and FARP to an Army HIMARS rocket artillery
truck.
The HIMARS truck launches two PrSM missiles, destroying both the FARP and the 92N6A radar
of the S-400 air defense system.
Now the S-400 system can't see F-35s and its missiles are useless.
The Air Force jets continue on with their deep strike mission.
The important point is that the Air Force doesn’t need to call on more Air Force assets
to deal with unexpected threats and instead the Army took the lead and provided the required
support.
This showcases the synergy that the Pentagon wants to have as it plans to take on increasing
better-equipped adversaries especially near-peer rivals like Russia and China.
S 400 Air Defense System essentially creates an Anti Access Area Denial (A2AD) umbrella.
The U.S and NATO nations have a large cache of 4th generation fighter jets and these aircraft
will find it very difficult to penetrate the airspace defended by S-400.
In a potential conflict between U.S & NATO & Russia, F-35 & S-400 will play a vital role
and will certainly come face to face.
F35s are designed to penetrate heavily guarded airspace whereas S 400 is designed to protect
the airspace against sophisticated aerial threats.
As per technical data, it is apparent that S-400 poses a threat to even the most advance
5th generation jets.
This is where a coordinated battle tactic will need to be implemented and an asset like
PrSM armed HIMARS could be utilized.
Also, the video indicates that the U.S is concerned about S-400 Triumph and is formulating
ways to counter it.