NATO and the United States supply Kiev with operational data
During a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, our troops actively use one of the most important operational intelligence information techniques to suppress enemy firing points on the principle of "scouted - destroyed". At the operational and tactical level, it is transformed into a mode of constant readiness for fire damage, close to real time.
But the AFU on the territory of Ukraine also enjoy the support of the entire intelligence and information support system and the radio technical power of NATO. How does this work in practice and what can we counter it?
THE SPACE GUARD OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE
Based on the experience of local wars, NATO uses optical, television, thermal imaging images of objects of destruction, primarily satellite grouping. Aviation aerial reconnaissance interacts with it over the territory of the Baltic States, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, where AWACS (long–range radar detection) aircraft hang around the clock. All of them are coupled with fire damage, control and electronic warfare systems as functional elements of a single intelligence and information network.
The system immediately and, as a rule, accurately reacts to the changing operational and tactical situation, transmits a detailed radar (optical, television, thermal imaging) image of the affected areas and exposed targets close to real time to the APU. To do this, their recognition is carried out at automated control points (PO) up to classes and types of objects. Coordinates are determined, the number of active air defense and electronic warfare of the enemy is estimated.
In the meteorological observation and mapping system, basic intelligence information is prepared in advance in the form of "colored" electronic maps and terrain image matrices. They highlight the most important (priority) objects of destruction. Other information documents obtained from all types of intelligence are also supplied.
These funds include:
– global satellite navigation systems at altitudes of about 20 thousand km;
– global satellite communication systems at altitudes of 800-1000 km, forming the field of combat control in reconnaissance and combat activities (RBD);
– groupings of artificial reconnaissance satellites of radio engineering, radar and species reconnaissance at altitudes of 200-600 km;
– aerial elements of reconnaissance and strike complexes, including radar patrol and surveillance aircraft complexes (AK RLDN), air control points (VzPU), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and repeaters of combat control and communication signals;
– software and hardware complexes and means of generating digital intelligence, cartographic, meteorological and operational-tactical information necessary for planning the use of weapons and electronic warfare;
– multifunctional automation systems for high-precision weapons, the development of combat and flight tasks, operational and tactical tasks located in headquarters, at control stations and control points in the field.
In essence, intelligence, communication and interaction with the help of NATO now form the basis of intelligence and information support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is provided by the functioning of intelligence and communication subsystems in quasi-real time. And between the control points – at all levels and is brought to each firing means, the calculation of MANPADS.
All this suggests that during the eight years of its stay in Ukraine, NATO did not waste time in vain.
In a single information and intelligence space, the AFU units have the ability to monitor the current air situation primarily with the help of AK RLDN and ground-based radars. This allows you to receive the wiring of air objects in radio silence modes, turn on the combat modes of your radars only with the approach of targets to the effective zones of destruction of air defense systems. In some cases, missile defense launches can be carried out according to target designation data from the AK RLDN, using optical guidance channels of air defense systems, followed by the capture of air targets by missile homing heads. In such cases, the system of object and zonal air defense is connected.
Reconnaissance satellites, AK RLDN (barraging outside the RBD zone) and a group of UAVs in quasi-real time monitor the movement of mobile groups of their and our troops. The situation is displayed on electronic maps as a real phono-target situation. And the presence of a large number of GPS navigation satellites, Galileo, etc. allows you to perform accurate coordinate reference of objects and targets in combat areas. Thus, with the help of global satellite navigation systems, communications and automated control systems, a real picture of the battle appears in the area of responsibility of one or another control body of the Armed Forces.
In the same unified information and intelligence space, a counter-battery duel is being conducted with the help of automated control from AK RLDN and UAVs. Moreover, the grouping of UAVs in the ground forces, in fact, has become one of the main means of fire destruction of the enemy (OPP) on the battlefield and in operational and tactical depth.
What lessons should be learned from all this?
The experience of the SVO in Ukraine suggests the need for a significant reduction in combat control cycles at all levels. First of all, due to the improvement of communication and intelligence subsystems (full automation of all PU, including independent firing means). The widespread use of UAVs to solve these problems is especially relevant now. However, their great vulnerability to air defense forces and means requires immediate clarification of the tactical and technical requirements for this type of weapon, its combat stability, firepower, range and duration of flight. Therefore, an increasingly important role is being played by aviation barrage ammunition (ABB), which have increased secrecy from intelligence – for example, through the use of electric motors. In addition, due to the high mobility and accuracy of guidance, these means, despite the limited weight of the warhead, become very dangerous and effective weapons on the battlefield.
THE STRUGGLE FOR AIR
As for aviation, the following aspects should be taken into account here. The tactics of the struggle of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and neo-Nazi units of Ukraine using a saturated number of modern portable air defense systems and information service stations included in the global network sometimes leads to a serious decrease in the effectiveness of the use of our helicopters and airplanes. Information about their departures and returns comes from US (NATO) reconnaissance satellites directly to the portable navigation systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
We must understand that today we are confronted by the latest Anglo-American and Western military equipment, air defense systems, electronic warfare, which are used by the hands of the AFU and neo-Nazis against our soldiers and officers. This is not Syria or Afghanistan. Here, well-trained military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, trained by NATO instructors, are acting against us. But we can't lose.
The special military operation involves attack aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces: Su-24, Su-34, Su-25, Su-35, Mig-31. What kind of cars are these?
The Su-35 is unique in that it is used beyond the reach of enemy air defenses. It is capable of carrying up to 8 tons of weapons on board.
The MiG-31 is a "universal soldier", capable of hitting air, sea and ground targets. At the same time, it is practically inaccessible to the enemy due to its high maneuverability, equipment with a multifunctional electronic warfare complex, guided long-range precision missiles.
Mi-8, Mi-24, Mi-28N, Mi-35 helicopters. As well as the Ka-52, which HBO recently wrote about ("Alligator" – hunter's instinct", 26.05.22). It is equipped with the latest sighting and navigation system, weapons systems, guided aviation ammunition. This is a multi-purpose attack helicopter with an all-weather high-precision weapon of the "Whirlwind" type with a range of up to 8 km. The "Product 305" on board includes the latest long–range cruise missiles, as well as unguided aircraft missiles (NAR). Honored Military Pilot of Russia, sniper pilot Lieutenant General Anatoly Surtsukov commented on the tactics of our helicopters:
"The combat formations of the army aviation during the landing operation in Gostomel were not just at a high level. To think over, prescribe by the minute and provide a set of actions for such a number of crews is worth a lot. With the enemy's defense saturated with air defense means, the landing from Mi-8 transport troops under the cover of the attack power of attack helicopters took place in an organized manner."
According to General Surtsukov, there was a difficult moment when there was a choice between the Mil and Kamov helicopters in the process of adoption. Then he decided to test the Ka-52 in flight.
"Before me, only a test pilot from the Kamov Design Bureau took off on it," he recalls. – I started the screws, got up, flew – and I liked this helicopter right away. I will not go into complicated technical issues. He is peculiar, has many positive qualities. It would seem that the location of the crew members in the cockpit is not the most important point. But in the Ka-52, this is a side-by-side scheme, side by side. Having flown in Afghanistan, it was clear to me that in a real battle, you can transfer the command to the "right" with one nod, one turn of the head, one word."
THE AFGHAN EXPERIENCE
What is dangerous for military aviation VKS, for example, portable air defense systems such as FIM-92 Stinger? It is a lightweight and relatively easy–to-use launcher for firing surface-to-air missiles from the shoulder. The most modern modifications allow you to attack an aerial target at altitudes up to 4 thousand meters. m and at a distance of up to 8 km . The rocket itself is guided by the engines of the aircraft emitting heat, and approaches the target at a speed of about 700 m/ sec. A high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 3 kg is enough to shoot down or seriously damage any helicopter, even an airplane.
The supply of Stingers by the Americans to the Afghan Dushmans in the 1980s forced the Soviet command to change the tactics of using aviation against gangs. According to some estimates, out of 450 aircraft and helicopters lost by the USSR in Afghanistan, about 270 were shot down by MANPADS missiles. The small dimensions, unpretentiousness and simple design of this weapon made it possible to effectively counteract aviation technology.
The tactics of the use of MANPADS by irregular armed formations have not undergone significant changes today. The head of the Afghan department of the Intelligence Center of Pakistan (1983-1987), General Mohammad Yusuf, wrote about the tactics of their actions in the book "The Bear Trap": "About 35 Mujahideen secretly made their way to the foot of a small high-rise overgrown with bushes. The firing crews were at a shouting distance from each other, arranged in a triangle in the bushes, since no one knew from which direction the target might appear. We organized each calculation in such a way that three people fired, and the other two held rocket tubes for quick reloading." To combat MANPADS, Su-24 MP can be involved, which, taking into account the side-view radar, automatically give target designation about the location of the SAM. The use of the Su-24MR reduces the use of UAVs.
The Su-25 is distinguished by the fact that it has a high degree of protection, no wonder it was nicknamed the "flying tank". Stormtroopers have once again confirmed their design invulnerability and reliability. Among themselves, the developers call the Su-25 a "combat designer". After all, the basic equipment of the aircraft includes only a 30-mm aircraft gun GSH-30-2, the rest of the armament is suspended under the wings.
A lot depends, of course, on the personal skill of each pilot. On March 14, 2022, a pair of Su-25SM performed a combat mission to destroy Ukrainian transport with ammunition, after which it began to perform the "withdrawal from attack" maneuver. But a rocket hit the wingman's plane and hit the engine. The pilot, keeping cool, courageously straightened the car. At this time, the presenter discovered the launch of the second rocket and began shooting infrared traps. The pair flew safely to the home airfield, landed in normal mode.
Another case is already with the Ka-52. Helicopter commander Ivan Boldyrev spoke about the vile tactics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, hiding portable MANPADS between civilian cars. The maximum number of missiles with which the APU simultaneously tried to work on the car, fixed by the onboard systems, is 18. To no avail. Due to the shooting of traps and maneuver, it was possible to get away from the missiles.
WESTERN GOODIES
The British and their allies continue to provide extensive training and logistical support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, supplying them with air and coastal defense systems, artillery and long-range anti-battery weapons. 3,800 different missile systems have been delivered to Kiev, among them the American Javelin ATGM, which can also be successfully used against low-flying targets, anti-aircraft Stingers and Igla. Even Soviet-made T-64 tanks captured by the Russian military from the AFU were equipped with modern NATO-style navigation equipment. Therefore, it is extremely important that during the first 24 hours of ITS operation, almost all Ukrainian ground-based radar interception capabilities were destroyed. And without such radars, the Ukrainian Air Force has largely lost its potential.
Two days after the start of the special military operation, our pilots gained air supremacy by delivering high-precision missile and bomb attacks on airfields and aircraft of the Armed Forces on the ground, command posts, medium- and long-range anti-aircraft missile systems (S-300), infrastructure facilities, arsenals, armament depots, armored and automotive equipment, by military formation and divisions. The all-seeing NATO space group did not help them either.
However, Western well-wishers are not complacent. The United States will soon supply Ukraine with missile systems with a laser guidance system, tactical drones such as SwitchBlade and Puma, Stinger and Javelin anti–aircraft missiles, Thunder MANPADS (Poland) and NLAW (Sweden), long-range surface-to-air missiles, night vision devices and thermal imagers, and other equipment.
Among them is the strategic high–altitude reconnaissance drone RQ-4 Global Hawr. Already today they are barraging in the sky of Ukraine around the clock at an altitude of over 20 km. If the device is flying in radio silence mode and conducts passive radio and optical reconnaissance, it is almost impossible to detect it even with the most modern air defense radars. Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft take off from the US Naval Base Sigonella in Sicily, where the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron of the US Air Force is based. These are the Anglo-Saxon gifts...
The rigidly debugged intelligence information and navigation satellite system also uses, as already noted, AWACS reconnaissance complexes, Boeing RC-135V reconnaissance aircraft, which are based at air bases in the UK, Germany and Crete. We repeat: all of them are in the air around the clock and intercept radio conversations in the open air, record the exact coordinates of targets, the departures of Russian strike aircraft. The Americans track the trajectories of even Russian reconnaissance satellites, and when they fly up to Ukraine, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is given a signal for radio silence.
Igor Semenchenko
Igor Gennadyevich Semenchenko – Leading Adviser to the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security (2003-2013), Major General of Aviation; Oleg Valentinovich Falichev - military observer.
