It is wrong to talk about modern American air defense without mentioning missile defense systems or US missile weapons. To date, these types of weapons are tightly integrated into a single multi-level system. This applies to US air defense fully.
North American Air Defense Features
The main feature is related to the geography and friendly Canada in the neighborhood on the continent. Therefore, the US-Canadian Air Defense Command is united, and the interstate air defense system does not protect individual countries, but the whole North American continent. Such a union took place in 1957, and since then this military cooperation has only benefited its members.
US defense is extremely simple in structure. It consists of two components:
- Ground-based surveillance system, which includes a variety of radars with sensor installations.
- The air force system, perfectly equipped and consisting of air warning devices and fighter aircraft from the new generation American aircraft E-3 AWACS, Canadian bombers CF-18 and the "classic" American fighter F-15, 16, 22.
The most important element of air defense of any country is the airspace control system. In the United States, it consists of a system of radar equipment posts that are subordinate to both countries, including Canada. They form a special Northern line with their operational control centers with regional coverage.
How Russian missiles led to the modernization of American air defense
Everything would be wonderful if it were not for the notorious confrontation between Russia and the USA in the form of a scientific and technical competition, which was worth insanely expensive investments for all parties.
In the early 1980s, the new Soviet medium- and short-range ballistic missiles were evaluated by the US command as a serious threat to US security. The solution was to abandon the traditional deployed air defense, consisting of many anti-aircraft missile systems deployed throughout the country.
US air defense forces sharply decreased in number and volume, almost all anti-aircraft systems and most of the air defense systems were withdrawn from service. The number of airspace control aircraft on duty in the air has also been significantly reduced.
The Chaparel air defense system, a short-range self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, became a victim of reduction. This baby was eventually discontinued, despite its popularity among foreign buyers of American weapons.
As a result, the air control system was reduced in the most significant way - only six interceptor aircraft were on duty throughout the entire North American continent with a 15-minute readiness. The main argument was the thought of the senselessness of protecting airspace from military aircraft, when ballistic missiles could appear in the sky in seconds. In the fall of 2001, the peak of cuts in US-Canadian air defense fell.
September 11, 2001
The September 11 tragedy showed the complete failure of the concept of protecting air from enemy invasion. Of course, this event entailed total reforms and changes.
To date, the continental part of Canada and the United States is again controlled by air defense from two full-weight components: ground-based radar and airborne. The joint air defense system called NORAD includes additional radars of a new generation of stationary and mobile formats.
Air control is performed by fighters and aircraft AWACS system, constantly in the air. And the number of air interceptors at instant response bases has tripled.
Another major change in management was also implemented. It concerned powers in deciding attacks of objects captured by terrorists. Previously, only the American president could make such a decision, but now, if necessary and urgency of the situation, the attack can be started with the permission of the air defense commander.
Fighters over the city
Another important and painful issue after September 11 was the need to control airspace over large cities. One way or another, such control is possible only in the form of combat duty of formidable military fighters.
If until September 11th only seven air force bases were responsible for combat duty in the US sky, now thirty air bases involved in the US multilevel air defense system have this function. These include 130 interceptor aircraft, accompanied by eight AWACS aircraft in eight squadrons.
Washington Air Defense
It is clear that the sky over Washington requires special control. It is provided by a specialized National Guard Air Force aviation unit with a base in neighboring Maryland. Also, fifth-generation F-22 Reptor planes from the famous 27th squadron are connected to Washington duty.
The ground part of Washington’s air defense is provided by three NASAMS Norwegian air defense systems that are located around the city. These compact air defense systems were created to hit targets at medium altitudes, they can be called weapons of "local local importance." The defeat range is not good news, only 2.5-40 km, which is more than enough for this kind of control. But the height of the defeat is very remarkable for its unique spread: from 3 m to 16 km. In other words, NASAMS installations are capable of using both targets with a “shaving” flight and objects flying at a solid height.
At the same time, the most important process of the resumption of classical air defense is taking place with many objects integrated into a common radar field. It is expensive, long and technically difficult. But, apparently, this will be done on time and with due quality.
Modernization of American air defense systems
The Patriot anti-aircraft missile system is the main type of US air defense in service for a long time. This is one of the great examples of effective weapon modification from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
SAM "Patriot" is still not mentioned in this article for one reason. The fact is that before this paragraph it was only about air defense in the United States. But the "Patriot" is not used in the United States, this weapon is designed to be placed only abroad. Most of these are Europe and the Middle East.
Over the five years since 2013, Congress has allocated more than one billion US dollars to the process of modernizing the Patriot complex. Moreover, in the next five years, an amount of $ 1.8 billion is planned for this expense item.
Such costs and efforts are associated with increasing global threats and are aimed at improving the effectiveness of the air defense system. Within the framework of the same program, it is planned to modernize the communication system and eliminate the problems of obsolescence of equipment.
The main result of the modernization program will be the integration of radars and launchers of US anti-aircraft missile systems into a single control network with other defense systems, including anti-missile systems. Its name, IAMD, translates as an integrated US Army air defense and missile defense system.
How did modernization begin?
Everything is very simple: the program of modernization of the US air defense system with a huge budget and ambitious tasks began after the shortcomings were discovered during the analysis of the effectiveness of weapons in 2012. Deficiencies and gaps were ranked by priority and widely published:
- The communication gap was the difficulty in interacting with army units, intergovernmental departments and other bodies involved in military operations. The radar system, with its constituent elements in the form of sensors, fuses and data collection, to form a common picture of airspace, was particularly affected. The picture itself was created without problems, but far from all participants in the process could use it to shoot at set goals.
- Low overall performance due to deficiencies in the identification of airborne objects, insufficient high speed of reaction to a missile threat and electronic attacks. The lack of ability to detect and destroy targets at a given height was attributed to the same group of shortcomings.
Elimination of defects
At the same time, a new program was announced in the armament of the US Army in the form of a strategy to eliminate the discovered shortcomings. The government has allocated a huge budget for this. The integrated air defense and missile defense program continues to this day.
The main factor in eliminating the shortcomings is the creation of a new combat command system (IBCS) for connecting working radars and SAM Patriot to a centralized data exchange network.
"Patriot" in the context of missile defense history
The Patriot universal air defense system was developed in connection with the emergence and rapid deployment of new weapons in the USSR. These were operational-tactical missiles of different ranges. The plan was launched back in the early 1980s.
The objective of the new US air defense system was to defeat conventional air targets (aircraft) and, most importantly, short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. From the very beginning, this program was called: "Field Army Ballistic Missile Defense System."
Today's Patriot is equipped with a high-precision radar system and a missile for air interception of combat targets. This is one of the most popular US anti-aircraft missile systems as an export.
The cost of "Patriot" in the international market is sky-high. The price of the kit necessary for normal operation in a combat situation (batteries, radar, control stations, etc.) can reach nine billion US dollars.
As for launching just one missile from the complex, it costs about three million US dollars.
The high price in no way reduces the demand for this air defense system among buyers. They always stand in line.
Nuances of targeting
This mobile anti-aircraft missile system is designed to hit numerous air targets:
- ballistic missiles of different ranges;
- airplanes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles;
- cruise missiles.
Back in 1974, the army leadership decided to replace the traditional semi-active missile guidance system with a brand new TVM scheme. It consisted in guiding the installation on the target through a rocket, and not through an onboard receiver.
The fact is that the missile launched by the installation is always closer to the target than the ground locator of the same installation. Therefore, the data from this device will be more accurate than from a radar station located on the ground.
Data from the rocket is processed by the onboard disposable control system computer. Control teams are formed and miscalculated on the ground, sent through a radio channel to the rocket for further development by autopilot.
This revolutionary approach made the flight path the most optimal with significant energy savings. And this led to an increase in range. The first test was conducted in 1975, and the next year the new system became known as Patriot. Thus was born the famous SAM "Patriot".
Serial production began in 1982, and the Patriot began combat readiness in 1984, at the peak of the arms race between Russia and the United States.
But progress did not stand still, especially in the technical development of tactical strike aircraft. The program at that time was short and clear: a missile defense system.
Today's national missile defense missile defense is an integrated multi-level system for tracking and intercepting missiles and other air targets. The goal is to protect the territories of the North American continent and US allies from ballistic missiles of any class and type.
The NMD system includes radar stations for early warning of missile launches, space satellites to monitor launches, ground and sea devices for guiding interceptors and launch equipment. This system of weapons is quite capable of coping with missiles in space and the Earth’s atmosphere on any part of the flight path.
Floating radar and a new missile defense system
The cost of the floating radar, which was born in 2006, is more than 815 million US dollars. The SBX-1 was the first floating radar to control the launches of the most formidable weapon - intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Today, military experts evaluate radar as a key element of the new generation US missile defense with the short acronym GMD (Ground-based Midcourse Defense system).
The main focus of attention is focused on the middle segment of the flight path of the warhead: the defeat of the target will occur on it. The uniqueness of the radar lies in its resistance to interference, as well as in excellent selectivity: the device can distinguish the numerous false targets that often accompany ballistic weapons in order to distract the attention of ultra-sensitive locators from real warheads.
Moreover, this station is able to analyze the results of the work of interceptors on missiles of the opposite side. If the shot is unsuccessful, she forms a task for producing a second volley.
In 2007, the SBX-1 sailed independently on a difficult sea route lasting more than a month. She moved from the base in Hawaii to the Aleutian Islands. During the journey, she participated in military exercises of the US Air Defense with parallel calibration of the radar for future work.
The geography of the station's localization is determined according to its task: tracking ballistic missiles manufactured by China and the DPRK. Interceptor missiles, which will be guided by a floating radar, are based in the Alaska and California areas.
Summary
24 billion US dollars - the amount that has been spent by the Ministry of Defense of the country on the integration of systems to capture or neutralize missile weapons to protect the American and their military allies over the past fifteen years. Not all Washington military experts agree that these investments were effective. Critics of modernization in recent years believe that as a result, the United States does not have a complete NMD system to protect against massive missile salvos from ballistic or cruise missiles.
This situation has arisen as a result of the imbalance of forces: the United States Department of Defense's expensive weapons were expensive long-range ground-to-air devices for destroying missiles in the form of medium salvo launches from Iran or the DPRK.
The subject of ongoing serious discussions at the Ministry of Defense is new initiatives in the field of air defense and missile defense, which would help to increase the degree of protection against series of successive launches of missiles of various classes. It is not just about ballistic weapons. The most promising types for investment and improvement are the next-generation combat weapons with high-precision control. Such a tool, for example, is already the floating radar platform SBX-1.
Watching the news about changes in the US air defense system is interesting from the point of view of management, technical development and, of course, politics.