that's four hundred is a russian-made anti-aircraft missile system it's been
called one of the most reliable air defenses around and can shoot down almost any target
the s400 has a range of 400 kilometers and can track hundreds of targets simultaneously
its capability is so prized that only a few countries have been able to get
their hands on it so far Russia has only cooler than ourselves to China and India
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the s400 is the real game-changer the reason is the multiple intercept missiles the s400
system can fire the s400 supports four different missiles the very long-range series four hundred
kilometers two hundred fifty kilometers 120 kilometers and the short-range forty kilometers
by comparison the u.s. patriot system supports only one interceptor missile with a range of 96
kilometers but there is more the nine m96 ii to is one of the jewels of the s400 system it
flies at Mach 15 around five thousand meters per second or eighteen thousand five hundred
kph it can engage targets as low as five meters off the ground and it can maneuver pulling up to
20 G's a human can withstand no more than 9 G's with special pressure suits and helmets and for
only a few seconds it is designed to knock out penetrating aircraft and missiles flying off the
deck or just above ground and neutralize cruise missiles dr carlo cop one of the world's top
aerospace experts says the s400 has optional acquisition radars designed to defeat modern
stealth aircraft such as the f-22 in the f-35 they work by operating in multiple frequency
bands including both the hf and l bands that can see stealth protected fighters stealth
designs have been built on low detection by x-band radar z' the most common military and
civilian radars others such as c-band now known as the g h band are less prevalent the f-35 has
stealth protection mainly in the front of the aircraft meaning that when it turns away from
its target it is vulnerable in time the entire air defense system of the US and its allies all
based primarily on x-band will become obsolete as China and Russia move towards stealth aircraft and
missiles along with the radar enhancements which may or may not be delivered to foreign customers
Russia has a formidable integrated air defense system even though the size of its truly modern
aircraft fleet is quite small compared to the United States and NATO Russia lost a decade in
the arms race when it had no money to develop and build new aircraft and its economy today
barely supports acquisition of effective numbers of new equipment indeed one of the reasons Russia
developed its air defenses along with wanting to counter u.s. stealth aircraft and cruise missiles
is because it could not afford a big fleet of modern fighter aircraft the US administration
in Congress should pay close attention to Russia's limited offensive capabilities not too often din
these days of anti-russian hysteria in Washington one use of the s400 long-range missile is against
standoff systems including flying command posts and aircraft such as the e3 sentry awacs these
aircraft which were used by the US and its NATO allies with a squadron stationed in Japan at
Kadena AFB and in the UAE at aldera are vulnerable to s400 interceptors and lose their standoff range
protection we may be reaching the end of the AWACS capability which were originally designed
in the 1960s the s400 also has capability against ballistic missiles a feature that surely attracted
Saudi Arabia's interest how good it is against ballistic missiles no one knows for sure the
Russian breakthrough makes sense in technological terms the u.s. does not have a true competitor to
the s400 system in the u.s. is not anxious to see such systems proliferate to Benin too late
a complex solution to a complex problem America's unique electronic warfare and radar suppression
abilities includes the growler but also many other platforms and ancillary capabilities as well this
complex ecosystem of weaponry and sensors includes various surveillance aircraft hacking and cyber
warfare abilities active suppression of enemy air defenses tactics and weaponry along with
low-observable aircraft in long-range standoff munitions the last two are especially potent when
combined together an electronic warfare support is added firing long-range low observable stealthy
weaponry from even a non stealthy aircraft gives enough standoff distance to begin taking out an
enemy's known air defenses at a safe distance today the s400 included in most cases when a
stealthy launch platform is used instead you can use more plentiful weapons with less range as
that stealth aircraft can get closer to the air defenses being targeted than their non stealthy
brethren can for instance an f-16 may be able to get well within jas sm missile range of an
advanced sam site while an f-35 could get within the outer edge of small diameter bomb range when
you add jamming support these ranges decrease by a noticeable margin depending on what tactics are
used and what a capacity available is to employ those tactics the problem is that against an
advanced foe you're not going up against a single Sam site to radar but a full constellation of
systems that includes aerial assets just like the advanced integrated air defense system we
discussed before here's Russia's s400 missile system in action and how the US would deal with
it that is why brochure comparisons of systems is nearly useless for such complex military
topics in real life the growler does not take on the s400 alone and vice versa an advanced diods
including the s400 and it will likely feature increased detection ranges against stealthy
and non stealthy aircraft alike it will also make jamming more problematic and could mean blinding
even a portion of that network as much tougher due to multiple layers of redundant air defences tied
together this is where cyber warfare and pinpoint strikes based on multiple sources of intelligence
can be more effective than jamming or going after the surface-to-air missiles and sensors themselves
for instance taking out the iods brains locations where the sensor fusion occurs or striking the
system's communications channels as I had sense or infusion capabilities advances in a surface-to-air
missile ranges increase it may be necessary to use stealthy long-range networked weapons long-range
stealthy aircraft and all the other tactics we mentioned including standoff jamming in order
to begin to degrade and eventually destroy an advanced air defense system additionally this
may be necessary due to other area denial and anti access capabilities the enemy possesses
for instance if a carrier cannot get within 1,500 miles of an enemy shores its aircraft
will be incapable of striking targets bases within range of ballast that missile barges
may also be destroyed as the cumulative effects of these first days of or standoff strikes take
hold the iets should begin to buckle and parts of this deadly air defense killing cocktail can be
omitted for instance instead of using long-range stealthy aircraft to launch long-range stealthy
missiles stealthy fighters can be used to launch medium-range weaponry as air tankers can operate
close enough to enemy airspace in order for them to be effective meanwhile long-range non stealthy
aircraft can begin launching long-range weapons which frees up stealthy long-range aircraft to
begin pushing over or near the enemy shores for direct attacks systems like many interior launch
decoys can be used along with strike assets to push deeper into an enemy's territory wiping
out its air defenses along the way as time goes on a sanitized corridor should emerge over enemy
airspace where less complex tactics can be applied and at higher sortie rates for instance fighters
strikes can be flown with electronic warfare and wild weasel support without the need for
standoff weaponry or in some cases without stealthy aircraft at all in other words it
takes a complex cocktail of jamming surveillance and attack assets both kinetic and non kinetic to
take on any advanced integrated air defense system of which the s400 could be a part and even then
you degrade and eventually destroy the enemy's air defense in a very throughout in methodical
manner so although it is an incredibly capable and critical weapon system those who say the AR
18g growler or any other single weapon system for that matter is some panacea for modern air
defense systems are greatly simplifying a complex solution to a very complex problem
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