Almost every day (or rather, night), the air defense of the Russian Armed Forces reflects attacks by Ukrainian UAVs on peaceful Russian cities. The main goal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is traditionally the capital of our country and the Moscow region as a whole. How does the Moscow air defense system work, how many anti-aircraft missile systems are in it, and what is a layered defense system?
Only on the night of Sunday, September 22, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, "fifteen Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense on duty", which tried to carry out "terrorist attacks using aircraft-type UAVs" on Russian territory. And the largest attack by Ukrainian drones in recent times was a strike on the night of September 10, when 144 Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed and intercepted.
Today it is customary to call these attacks "massive". In general, they are really quite large – dozens, and sometimes more than a hundred drones in one salvo. However, from the point of view of the air defense systems built around Moscow, such attacks are not massive. Repelling such attacks does not require superpowers from the air defense. This is primarily due to what kind of air defense forces Russia has created around Moscow.
The capital is defended by the 1st Air Defense Army of the Russian Aerospace Forces. This is the only air defense association in the country designed to defend the capital from attacks not only by aerodynamic, but also by ballistic enemy targets from any direction.
The first anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) in the Soviet Union went on combat duty just outside Moscow. It was the S-25 Berkut complex. By now, it is incredibly bulky – 60 launchers, a large semi-underground CRN bunker (central guidance radar) B-200, 10 launch bunkers and many kilometers of cables were located on 140 hectares. One complex comprised the regiment's armament.
Structurally, he could only shoot in the 60-degree sector, so the grouping (1st Air Defense Army), created from such complexes, was built in the form of two rings: 24 regiments on the inner and 32 on the outer. 3360 launchers. There were also 22 long-range detection stations, some standing on brick towers, and other units.
All this together made up the A-50 system. We are left with two motorways – A107, also known as BK-50 or Small (First) Concrete, and A-108 – Large concrete. They were built as roads designed to maneuver missiles between regiments.
In other words, the modern reinforced air defense of Moscow is a historically established structure, it has been built for decades. Currently, its importance has only increased due to regular attacks by Ukrainian UAVs.
The air defense system of the Moscow region is arranged according to the layered principle. The destruction of the air enemy begins on the distant approaches. The newspaper VZGLYAD has already written that systems designed to destroy Ukrainian UAVs aimed at Moscow are beginning to shoot down targets deep in advance, even in the border regions of the country – Kursk, Belgorod and other regions.
In addition, the principle of separation consists in dividing the spheres of responsibility for different complexes, depending on the zone of their destruction, in particular by the range and height of targets. For example, several decades ago, medium- and large–caliber guns were supposed to fire at long-range and high-altitude (for those times) targets, small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery and machine-gun installations - at short-range and low-altitude. Today, the same tasks are performed by air defense systems of various classes and characteristics.
The characteristics of the goals are of great importance.
For example, both the S-400 long-range SAM and the small Pantsir–C1/C2 can successfully shoot down UAVs and ATACMS missiles, but the task of destroying drones in overlapping damage zones will primarily be assigned to the "small" Pantsir, and on the contrary, the "large" S-400 for a ballistic target. The reasons are clear. In the first case, you can do with a cheaper missile, and in the second case, the S–400 has a much higher probability of hitting such missiles.
The first echelon of the Moscow region's air defense, operating at the longest range and against the most serious threats, is the A–135 complex. It is designed to destroy the warheads of the enemy's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in near space. Of course, it cannot be used against Ukrainian UAVs, we mention it only for completeness.
The next echelon is the long–range (several hundred km) S-500 and S-400 air defense systems. They are primarily designed to destroy medium-range ballistic missiles. The third is the S-400 and S-300 air defense systems, Pantsir-C1/C2, electronic warfare systems (EW). Their main purpose is the fight against cruise missiles (KR) and enemy aircraft.
And finally, the fourth one consists of the Pantsir-C1/C2 and electronic warfare complexes. It is this echelon that primarily performs the task of fighting drones in this case.
In addition, the "Shells" cover larger and longer-range air defense systems. The combat capabilities of the complexes partially overlap, so the commanders of the air defense calculations have the opportunity to choose the means suitable for this air defense battle.
For obvious reasons, Russian data on how many such complexes Moscow covers and where they are located are classified. Open Western sources give their estimates. For example, The military balance handbook, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS London), states that in general, the Russian Air defense Forces have 90 S-300 PM1/PM2 and 96 S-400 air defense systems in service. They are covered by 36 Pantsir-C1 complexes (other modifications are not specified), each with six combat vehicles.
Conditionally, we will form groupings (regiments) to defend as many objects as possible. The minimum composition is two S–400 air defense systems, one or two Pantsir-S1/2 combat vehicles to cover each. According to calculations, the air defense forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces as a whole can protect 93 facilities throughout the country. We have before us one of the largest (if not the largest) groups of anti-aircraft missile systems in the world. It is precisely this scale that makes it possible to successfully defend the capital from Ukrainian UAVs.
However, it is worth considering that in Russia there are 170 cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people and 321 cities with a population of over 50 thousand, not to mention military, industrial, energy and infrastructure facilities. Based on these figures, it is clear that the capabilities of even such a large-scale air defense group are limited.
But it's not just about shooting down a drone. First of all, it must be detected, and the sooner the better – and this is a very difficult task.
These devices fly at extremely low (up to 200 m) or low (from 200 to 1000 m) altitudes. Due to the curvature of the earth's surface, the radio horizon for a radar station standing on a flat surface – as in a wide steppe – at a target at an altitude of 50 m will be at a range of 39 km. In order for the radar and air defense systems to see further, they need to be raised to artificial elevations – towers and artificial slides.
Last year, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin talked about how the Ministry of Defense, with the help of the capital's authorities, is rebuilding air defense positions. If it is rebuilding, then we are talking about the very positions that were chosen, created, equipped, equipped and equipped back in Soviet times. There is no doubt that these positions include bulk earth slides for radar installation, and metal-welded stationary platforms for radar and combat vehicles. The height of such a platform is about 30 meters, and the radio horizon for the complex will be about 52 km from it.
But there is another important feature that distinguishes modern Russian air defense systems from their Soviet predecessors for the better. In the two and a half years since the beginning of the special operation, the calculations of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and air defense personnel in general have gained such combat experience that they did not receive even during the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts. Moscow's air defense has never worked with such a nomenclature and number of targets. This means that today the air defense officers of the Russian Air Force are at the peak of combat training in the entire history of this kind of armed forces. That is why Moscow's air defense is so effective in repelling attacks by Ukrainian UAVs.
Igor Garnov
