Surface-to-air missile: Difference between revisions

 

 

[[File:Jet over mount.jpg|right|thumb|300px|An artist's depiction of a Soviet surface-to-air missile system engaging two [[F-16 Fighting Falcons]] ]]

 

The first serious attempts at SAM development took place during [[World War II]], although no operational systems were introduced. Further development in the 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide a layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles.

To combat this threat, the [[U.S. Navy]] launched [[Operation Bumblebee]] to develop a ramjet-powered missile to destroy the launching aircraft at long range.<ref name="nmsu">{{cite web|url=http://nmsua.edu/tiopete/files/2008/12/wspgcoldbook.pdf|title=A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941–1965|publisher=New Mexico State University|access-date=2010-08-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028154222/http://nmsua.edu/tiopete/files/2008/12/wspgcoldbook.pdf|archive-date=2014-10-28}}</ref> The initial performance goal was to target an intercept at a horizontal range of {{convert|10|miles}} and {{convert|30,000|ft}} altitude, with a {{convert|300|to|600|lb|kg}} warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability.<ref name="hays">{{cite web|url=http://www.okieboat.com/Talos%20history.html|title=Talos Missile History|publisher=Hays, Philip R.|access-date=2010-08-19|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DGrWL0U8?url=http://www.okieboat.com/Talos%20history.html|archive-date=2012-12-29|url-status=live}}</ref> This weapon did not emerge for 16 years, when it entered operation as the [[RIM-8 Talos]].<ref>Phillip Hays, [http://www.okieboat.com/Talos%20history.html "History of the Talos Missile"] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DGrWL0U8?url=http://www.okieboat.com/Talos%20history.html |date=2012-12-29 }}</ref>

The Vietnam War was the first modern war in which guided antiaircraft missiles seriously challenged highly advanced supersonic jet aircraft. It would also be the first and only time that the latest and most modern [[air defense]] technologies of the [[Soviet Union]] and the most modern jet [[fighter plane]]s and [[bombers]] of the United States confronted each other in combat.<ref>Michel III p. 1-4</ref> Nearly 17,000 Soviet missile technicians and operator/instructors deployed to [[North Vietnam]] in 1965 to help defend [[Hanoi]] against American [[bomber]]s, while North Vietnamese missilemen completed their six to nine months of SAM training in the Soviet Union.<ref>Davies p. 40, 53</ref>

The [[USAF]] responded to this threat with increasingly effective means. Early efforts to directly attack the missiles sites as part of [[Operation Spring High]] and [[Operation Iron Hand]] were generally unsuccessful, but the introduction of [[Wild Weasel]] aircraft carrying [[AGM-45 Shrike|''Shrike'' missile]]s and the [[Standard ARM]] missile changed the situation dramatically. Feint and counterfeint followed as each side introduced new tactics to try to gain the upper hand. By the time of [[Operation Linebacker II]] in 1972, the Americans had gained critical information about the performance and operations of the S-75 (by Arab's S-75 systems were captured by Israel), and used these missions as a way to demonstrate the capability of [[strategic bomber]]s to operate in a SAM saturated environment. Their first missions appeared to demonstrate the exact opposite, with the loss of three B-52s and several others damaged in a single mission.<ref>Steven Zaloga, "Red SAM: The SA-2 Guideline Anti-Aircraft Missile", Osprey Publishing, 2007, p. 22</ref> Dramatic changes followed, and by the end of the series missions were carried out with additional chaff, ECM, Iron Hand, and other changes dramatically changed the score.<ref>Marshall Michel, [http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/christmas-bombing.html?c=y&page=10 "The Christmas Bombing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621100501/http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/christmas-bombing.html?c=y&page=10 |date=2013-06-21 }}, ''Air and Space'', January 2001</ref> By the conclusion of the Linebacker II campaign, the shootdown rate of the S-75 against the B-52s was 7.52% (15 B-52s were shot down, 5 B-52s were heavily damaged for 266 missiles)<ref>Zaloga, Steven J. Red SAM: The SA-2 Guideline Anti-Aircraft Missile. Osprey Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-84603-062-8}}. p. 22</ref>  

During the war, The Soviet Union supplied 7,658 SAMs to North Vietnam, and their defense forces conducted about 5,800 launches, usually in multiples of three. By the war's end, the U.S lost 3,374 aircraft in combat.  However, U.S confirmed only 205 aircraft had been lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles.<ref>Davies p. 72-74</ref> Many of the U.S aircraft "crashed in flight accidents", in fact, were crashed due to S-75 missiles. When landing at an airfield in Thailand, one B-52 was heavily damaged by SAM, rolled out of the runway and blown up on mines installed around the airfield to protect the guerrillas, only one crewman survived. Subsequently, this B-52 was counted as "crashed in flight accidents".{{cn|date=May 2020}}

The introduction of [[sea-skimming missile]]s in the late 1960s and 1970s led to additional mid- and short-range designs for defence against these targets. The UK's [[Sea Cat]] was an early example that was designed specifically to replace the [[Bofors 40 mm]] gun on its mount, and became the first operational point-defense SAM.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%201625.html "SEACAT – The Guided Missile To Defend Small Ships"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101232424/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%201625.html |date=2013-11-01 }}, ''Flight International'', 5 September 1963, p. 438.</ref> The American [[RIM-7 Sea Sparrow]] quickly proliferated into a wide variety of designs fielded by most navies. Many of these are adapted from earlier mobile designs, but the special needs of the naval role has resulted in the continued existence of many custom missiles.

Modern long-range weapons include the Patriot and [[S-300 (missile)]] systems, which have effective ranges on the order of 150&nbsp;km, and offer relatively good mobility and short unlimbering times. These compare with older systems with similar or less range, like the [[MIM-14 Nike Hercules]] or [[S-75 Dvina]], which required fixed sites of considerable size. Much of this performance increase is due to improved rocket fuels and ever-smaller electronics in the guidance systems. Some very long-range systems remain, notably the Russian [[S-400]], which has a range of 400&nbsp;km.<ref>[http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070521/65806197.html "S-400 missile defense systems to start defending Moscow July 1"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021122722/http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070521/65806197.html |date=2012-10-21 }}, RIA Novosti, 21 May 2007</ref>

Medium-range designs, like the [[Rapier (missile)|Rapier]] and [[2K12 Kub]], are specifically designed to be highly mobile with very fast, or zero, setup times. Many of these designs were mounted on armoured vehicles, allowing them to keep pace with mobile operations in a conventional war. Once a major group onto itself, medium-range designs have seen less development since the 1990s, as the focus has changed to unconventional warfare.

MANPAD systems first developed in the 1960s and proved themselves in battle during the 1970s. MANPADS normally have ranges on the order of 3&nbsp;km and are effective against [[attack helicopter]]s and aircraft making ground attacks. Against fixed wing aircraft, they can be very effective, forcing them to fly outside the missile's envelope and thereby greatly reducing their effectiveness in ground-attack roles. MANPAD systems are sometimes used with vehicle mounts to improve maneuverability, like the [[AN/TWQ-1 Avenger|Avenger]] system. These systems have encroached on the performance niche formerly filled by dedicated mid-range systems.

'''Ship-based anti-aircraft missiles''' are also considered to be SAMs, although in practice it is expected that they would be more widely used against [[sea skimming]] missiles rather than aircraft{{fact|date=January 2021}}.  Virtually all surface [[warships]] can be armed with SAMs, and naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialize in anti-air warfare e.g. [[Ticonderoga class cruiser|''Ticonderoga''-class]] cruisers equipped with the [[Aegis combat system]] or [[Kirov class battlecruiser|''Kirov'' class cruisers]] with the [[S-300PMU]] ''Favorite'' missile system. Modern Warships may carry all three types (from long-range to short-range) of SAMs as a part of their multi-layered air defence.

*[https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/ Rest-of-World Missile Systems] from the [[Federation of American Scientists]] website