As shown by a cursory monitoring of the news agenda of some military-analytical sites Runet, The announced a week earlier by the competent sources in the Iraqi security forces and US Central Command (CENTCOM) the deployment of the US Armed Forces Expeditionary Force anti-aircraft missile system of several batteries «Patriot PAC-2/3" in the vicinity of the town of Hit was greeted with a splash panikorskih notes and comments by both reviewers, and journalistic communities, usmotrevshih in this event no less
"Threat to the formation of a no-fly zone for tactical aviation VKS Russia in the airspace of Syria".
And indeed, starting from appearing in the Middle East the media source news material, where as the main places of deployment to deploy anti-aircraft missile battalions «Patriot» indicates the area of the Iraq-Syrian border, technically maloosvedomlonny journalist can come to a definite conclusion, that the smooth handling multipurpose fighter-bomber Su-34 multipurpose fighters Su-35s in the south-eastern sector of the Syrian airspace called into question. Thus as the main argument for such approval only one parameter SAM «Patriot PAC-2" will be used - the range intercepted by MIM-104C purposes ZUR, component order 160 km.
"The Long Arm" American "Patriot" is effective only in the work of medium-high and high-rise buildings
At first sight, such a range of the calculations provides combat "Patriot" possibility of forming air zone restrictions and prohibition of access and maneuver A2 / AD in Syrian airspace until Ham province, preventing a hypothetical exit of tactical aviation and the Syrian Air Force VKS Russia at the turn of fire impact on the US armed forces military infrastructure, covering the oil field Al-Omar, gas field Husham, and a number of oil fields and oil refineries on the east bank of the Euphrates. In reality, the capacity deployed in Iraq, anti-aircraft missile battalions «Patriot PAC-2/3" in the construction of air defense "umbrella" over the Syrian theater is not so great.
In particular, in the case of «Patriot PAC-2" deployment of anti-aircraft missile batteries near the Iraqi city of Akashat (with a view to cover the 55-kilometer "security zone" around the fortified the Commission and the United States near the MTR Et TANF) erected their antiaircraft "umbrella" would cover only medium-and high-rise sector ATS airspace over central and northern regions of the province of Homs, while the low-altitude sector (70-200 m) will remain outside the view area AN / APQ-53/65 battery multifunction radar, distance the radio horizon which is of the order 65 km when operating on targets, operates on height 150 m. Consequently, equipped with semi-active radar homing and in need of continuous additional illumination from the radar MPQ-53/65 MIM-104C aircraft missiles would pose a certain threat to operate in a low-altitude tactical aviation of the Russian mode only at a distance of 50-60 km (within radio horizon MRLS AN / MPQ-65).
And that's not to mention the significant reduction in the stability of en-route tracking and "capture" at the precise tracking of our Su-30cm, Cy and Cy-35C-34 by MPQ-load tap changer 65 due to the influence by the interfering complexes container EW "Khibiny", placed on hardpoints "crackers". It is well known, that provided passive phased array antennas (with the only source of microwave amplification on the basis of the klystron) radar MPQ-53/65 line exhibit significantly lower noise immunity in comparison with promising AFAR-type radar 3DELRR and AN / TPS-80 G / ATOR, each receiving and transmitting unit which has its own gallium nitride-microwave transistor and attenuator (radar data has not yet acquired operational alert and were assigned batteries "Patriot" as an additional source of targeting).
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As for the surface-to-air missile interceptors MIM-104F PAC-3MSE, members of the air defense system «Patriot PAC-3MSE» and able to carry out the interception of highly-horizon air attack by equipping active radar homing Ka-band (of target designation from the AWACS aircraft E-3C / G radar and airborne tactical fighter), then they will not allow calculations of American "Patriot" to close the airspace over the southern regions of ATS for videoconferencing Russian tactical aviation. And the rub here is, that the range of the missiles MIM-104F PAC-3MSE sverhnizkovysotnym of goals does not exceed 65-70 km, due to the presence of long-lasting and less powerful charge SPRM (in comparison with the MIM-104C / D / E), as well as a higher aerodynamic resistance in the troposphere and lower stratosphere, which imposes severe restrictions on the interceptor during work on aerodynamic objects.
It begs the only objective conclusion: even in the case of deployment in the area of the Iraq-Syrian border, mixed anti-aircraft missile system on the basis of SAM «Patriot PAC-2» and «Patriot PAC-3MSE» available to flight crews VKS Russia will remain an impressive Low-altitude "neprosmatrivaemye" loophole for air operations over central and southern regions of Syria. If we take into account, that the "Patriots" will be deployed exclusively in the area of the Iraqi city of Hit (more than 200 km from the Iraqi-Syrian border), the medium-, as well as high-altitude sector of Syrian airspace will remain completely safe to handle Russia's tactical air, stationed on AVB "Hmeymim".
Eugene Damantsev
