Ukraine would be opening the top shelf stuff if they can shoot one of these down.
Russia is going to have to start taking risks if they hope to continue this war and thus far they have been betting the house on a pair of 6s
Well that probably sucks a bit. SA-21 has already made some exceptionally long ranged and low level kills [hitting fighters flying at about 15ft from over 150km away](https://static.rusi.org/whr_regenerating-warfighting-credibility-nato_0.pdf) – in those cases the shots were made possible by long range ground based radar, but obviously A-50’s will not only see further, they’ll also see out to that kind of range more reliably than a ground based radar.
I think that definitely qualifies as a dangerous development, but probably it’s more dangerous for the older Soviet fighters Ukraine is operating than the F-16s (though, still dangerous for them too). The older fighter’s radar warning systems were less sophisticated, and the fighters apparently didn’t realise they had been launched on until the missile itself went active before impact. Hopefully newer systems will allow F-16 pilots to recognise the danger and turn away much earlier and give them a greater chance of survival.
It’s also quite likely that Russia has very limited numbers of the missiles that can make shots like this – the combination of very long range and active radar terminal guidance is specific to a couple of the missiles used by S-400 which weren’t manufactured in extremely large numbers. They do have plenty of the long range 48N6 line missiles but as they use semi-active guidance, they’ll be ineffective against targets below the radar horizon from the SAM’s guidance radar. Against higher-flying targets they will of course present a serious risk, so the addition of A-50 to the equation will likely reduce the height at which Ukraine’s fighters can safely approach the frontline near an SA-21 battery.
Needs a KABOOM.
Is this a new capability or just used for the first time? If the former, NATO countries have been able to guide missiles on datalink for a long time and it can make a huge difference.
4 comments
Ukraine would be opening the top shelf stuff if they can shoot one of these down.
Russia is going to have to start taking risks if they hope to continue this war and thus far they have been betting the house on a pair of 6s
Well that probably sucks a bit. SA-21 has already made some exceptionally long ranged and low level kills [hitting fighters flying at about 15ft from over 150km away](https://static.rusi.org/whr_regenerating-warfighting-credibility-nato_0.pdf) – in those cases the shots were made possible by long range ground based radar, but obviously A-50’s will not only see further, they’ll also see out to that kind of range more reliably than a ground based radar.
I think that definitely qualifies as a dangerous development, but probably it’s more dangerous for the older Soviet fighters Ukraine is operating than the F-16s (though, still dangerous for them too). The older fighter’s radar warning systems were less sophisticated, and the fighters apparently didn’t realise they had been launched on until the missile itself went active before impact. Hopefully newer systems will allow F-16 pilots to recognise the danger and turn away much earlier and give them a greater chance of survival.
It’s also quite likely that Russia has very limited numbers of the missiles that can make shots like this – the combination of very long range and active radar terminal guidance is specific to a couple of the missiles used by S-400 which weren’t manufactured in extremely large numbers. They do have plenty of the long range 48N6 line missiles but as they use semi-active guidance, they’ll be ineffective against targets below the radar horizon from the SAM’s guidance radar. Against higher-flying targets they will of course present a serious risk, so the addition of A-50 to the equation will likely reduce the height at which Ukraine’s fighters can safely approach the frontline near an SA-21 battery.
Needs a KABOOM.
Is this a new capability or just used for the first time? If the former, NATO countries have been able to guide missiles on datalink for a long time and it can make a huge difference.