The S-300PMU2 'Favorit' Air Defense Missile Complex
Moscow Tekhnika i Vooruzheniye in Russian 06 Dec 04
[Commentary by Sergey Ganin, Aleksandr Karpenko, and Rostislav Angelskiy: "The S-300P System: The S-300PMU2 'Favorit' Air Defense Missile Complex"]
THE S-300P SYSTEM
The authors express their profound gratitude to Vladimir Korovin for the information support rendered.
THE S-300PMU2 "FAVORIT" AIR DEFENSE MISSILE COMPLEX
The S-300PMU2 Universal Mobile Multichannel Air Defense Missile System -- is the further development of the S-300PMU1 and the 83M6Ye Command And Control Facility.
The S-300PMU2 "Favorit" System is designed for the highly-effective defense of very important state facilities and its armed forces from massive strikes of contemporary and advanced aircraft, strategic cruise missiles, tactical and operational-tactical ballistic missiles and other airborne offensive weapons, in the entire range of altitudes and speeds of their combat employment, including under the impact of intensive active and passive jamming. The system was widely displayed for the first time in 1997 at the MAKS-97 [International Aerospace Show] Exhibition at Zhukhovskiy. It has been reported that the S-300PMU2 System was declassified just several days prior to the opening of that exhibition and just prior to the initiation of its delivery into the Russian Army inventory.
Range testing of the new variant of the S-300P System began in 1992-1993 at the 72nd Test Range at Sary-Shagan, and was later transferred to Russian territory, to the Kapustin Yar Test Range.
On August 31, 1995, the S-300PMU2 "Favorit" was tested for the first time at Kapustin Yar Test Range during firings against tactical ballistic missiles that were similar to the Scud. During the tests, two tactical ballistic missiles were intercepted by four 48N6Ye2 missiles while assuring the detonation of the targets' warheads on the trajectory.
The S-300PMU2 air defense system consists of the following:
- The 83M6Ye2 Command And Control Facility (the 54K6Ye2 Combat Control Post and the 64N6Ye2 Detection Radar);
- Up to six 90Zh6Ye2 air defense missile complexes -- the ZON6Ye2 Illumination and Guidance Radar, up to 12 5P85TYe2 launchers (in the system's transportable variant) or 5P85SYe2 (in the mobile variant) with 48N6Ye2 air defense guided missiles;
- Radars (the 96L6Ye All-Altitude Detector, the 76N6 Low-Altitude Detector, and 40V6M towers to raise the detectors' antenna posts; and,
- Ground support equipment.
In the opinion of the experts, today the "Favorit" is the most universal air defense system in the world, which is capable of defending, with high effectiveness, facilities and troops from any offensive weapons from the air, including aircraft, helicopters, operational-tactical ballistic and cruise missiles that are flying at high and extremely low altitudes with terrain following under conditions of forested and difficult terrain. With the development of the "Favorit" Air Defense Missile System, we can talk about the actual appearance in Russia of a system, which is capable of fully confronting non-strategic missile strikes.
During the development of the new system, they resolved the issues of enhancing the self-sufficiency of the conduct of combat operations through the use of the 96L6Ye All-Altitude Detector, and they expanded the search characteristics of the 83M6Ye2 Command And Control Facility for the detection and tracking of ballistic targets with the preservation of the aerodynamic target detection sector.
The system's effectiveness when operating against aerodynamic targets (including low-flying targets) in a complex tactical and jamming situation was also increased and the electronic countermeasures of all of the system's radars have been enhanced. With the simultaneous surveillance of the airspace by several radars, the admission into a defended zone of airborne targets, including cruise missiles that are flying at low altitudes from any directions, has been totally excluded.
The equipment, which is in the composition of the S-300PMU2 System, supports the capability of the use of earlier variants of the S-300PMU1 System along with the 48N6Ye2 air defense missiles. While taking into account the possibility of the system's export deliveries, the capabilities for its integration into various air defense systems have also been expanded.
The 48N6Ye2 Missile is an improved variant of the 48N6Ye missile with an increased maximum target destruction range of up to 200 kilometers.
"Fakel" MKB [Mechanical-Engineering Design Bureau] Chief Designer Vladimir Grigoryevich Svetlov said:
- "One of the primary distinctions of the missile that is part of the 'Favorit' Complex -- is its enhanced combat capabilities to combat ballistic targets. That mission became a priority in the development of the latest air defense systems after 'Desert Storm'. As we all know, the American 'Patriot' didn't have a good showing there. Several air defense missiles were fired at the Scuds, which were flying toward Israel or Saudi Arabia. However, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the warheads of the destroyed Iraqi missiles reached the ground and exploded. When firing was conducted against housing areas, the warhead still fell on the heads of peaceful residents -- if not on that street, then on another. And the publicized 'Patriot' in fact turned out to be not at all a panacea for these misfortunes. The missile, which we have developed for the 'Favorit', destroys Scuds in such a manner that their warheads already do not reach the ground -- they are detonated in the air...
"'Fakel' Mechanical-Engineering Design Bureau launched the work on the development of the 48N6Ye2 missile at the beginning of the 1990s and that work required the conduct of numerous calculations, engineering studies and research, in the process of which the missile's capability to achieve a launch range of 200 kilometers and the required destruction effectiveness of various types of aerodynamic and ballistic targets were demonstrated. In the process, they preserved total continuity in the new missile's use of all of the S-300PMU1 System's components, including the transport-launch canisters, the launcher and the entire ground support equipment complex.
"All of the most advanced technical solutions, which are used by the air defense missiles of the S-300P Systems' family - 'cold' vertical launch using a catapult and the progressive technologies that are employed during the production of the missile's elements - were preserved in the 48N6Ye2 air defense missile.
"Among the innovations that have been realized in the new missile, we can include the introduction of fundamentally new mathematical algorithms of its guidance to the target, the use of the most favorable flight trajectories and the employment of a more effective warhead. The search for its best variant was carried out in parallel with the development of the new missile and continued over the course of several years. During that time, the most diverse variants of its execution were studied. The variant, on which 'Fakel' Mechanical-Engineering Design Bureau decided, demonstrated its overwhelming superiority both in ground tests and also in the air during intercepts of Scud type tactical ballistic missiles at the range".
The S-300PMU2 Complex, like the S-300PMU1, can be supplied in two variants: with the use of a mobile launcher based upon a MAZ-543M type motor vehicle or of a 5P85TYe2 launcher based upon a semi-trailer, which is towed by a KrAZ truck-tractor.
During the performance of alert duty and during combat work, a responsible surveillance sector is assigned to each of the S-300P System's air defense missile battalions. The search for targets and their allocation among the air defense missile battalions, as a rule, is conducted centrally by RTV [Radio-Technical Troops] units and the system's reconnaissance and command and control system. Using the automated command and control system ("Vektor" -- for the S-300PT; "Senezh", "Baykal", and "Baykal-1" -- for the S-300PS and S-300PMU) information is issued to each battalion through the command post. The information, which is obtained by the battalions from their own low-altitude detectors and the radars that are attached to them, in its turn, is transmitted to the system's command post for processing by the automated command and control system and allocation to available firing channels.
A new modification of the 83M6Ye2 Command and Control Facility was displayed at the MAKS-97 International Aerospace Show as part of the 54K6Ye2 Combat Command and Control Post and the 64N6Ye2 Detection Radar, through the use of which command and control of up to six S-300PMU2 air defense missile complexes is carried out with the capability for the simultaneous firing of 72 missiles at 36 targets.
At the same time, they carry out the detection of up to 300 and the tracking of up to 100 airborne targets. While tracking aerodynamic targets, the detection radar operates in the circular scanning surveillance mode with the surveillance of space in a sector of 14 degrees based upon elevation. When repelling an attack with the use of ballistic missiles, the detection radar carries out surveillance of the space in a sector that is 60 degrees along the azimuth and 75 degrees along the elevation on the axis that poses a missile threat. The maximum flight speed of the targets that are being destroyed -- is 1,000 kilometers per hour.
The complex supports the simultaneous tracking, firing and destruction of six aerodynamic targets by 12 missiles in an area with a near border of three kilometers and a far border of 200 kilometers at altitudes of from 10 to 27,000 meters. The destruction of ballistic missiles with a launch range of up to 1,000 kilometers through the physical destruction of the warheads is possible at a range of up to 40 kilometers at altitudes of up to 25 kilometers.
Based upon the customer's desire, it is possible to supply the 96L6Ye All-Altitude Detector, the 76N6 Low-Altitude Detector, and 40V6M towers for raising the antenna posts of all of the radars.
The S-300PMU2 "Favorit" System was displayed abroad for the first time at the LIMA-97 Exhibition in Malaysia and at IDEX-99 at Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
THE S-300P SYSTEM IN THE AIR DEFENSE OF RUSSIA AND OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES
After its entry into the inventory, the S-300P System was deployed in various areas of the USSR. Based upon foreign assessments, by the beginning of 1984, there were 350 launchers at 40 combat missile deployment areas and 20 new position areas in the construction stage in the PVO [Air Defense] System of the USSR. By 1985, the number of prepared combat missile deployment areas had increased to 60, and up to 30 were under construction. By 1987, 80 combat missile deployment areas had been put into operation and another 20 were being built. By 1988, 150 combat units, which were armed with various variants of the S-300P System, were deployed in the USSR's PVO System. Based upon these same foreign assessments, the USSR manufactured 900 5V55 missiles annually in 1983-1984 and the scale of production increased to 1,600 missiles per year in 1985.
The S-300P's first combat deployment abroad was carried out in 1989 when three battalions were allegedly introduced into the composition of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. However, as a result of the collapse of the GDR [German Democratic Republic], their further deployment was halted (Jane's Intelligence Review, No. 3, 1997).
After the disintegration of the USSR, S-300P type systems remained in the inventory of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. At the beginning of the 1990s, they repeatedly confirmed their high capabilities during the course of training and demonstration firings. Based upon the testimony of Academician B. Bunkin, after the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, a series of firings against ballistic missiles like the American Lance was conducted at the range. All of the targets were destroyed.
But the S-300P's first trip abroad, which took place in February 1993, at the first IDEX weapons exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where Chief Designers B.V. Bunkin and V.G. Svetlov, were present, became the main test for the S-300P at the beginning of the 1990s.
- "On the day that the S-300 conducted demonstration firings at the range, Boris Vasilyevich Bunkin and I found ourselves on the VIP platform among the Sheikhs of the Emirates' ruling elite," -- recalled V.G. Svetlov. -- "We were looking, our vehicles appeared and the radars were turned on... And then they announced that the targets were flying. One was low, and the other was a bit higher. And suddenly there was a firing, and everything was in smoke... That was a sight! It was no accident that the next day the main exhibition daily newspaper published a photograph of our launching missile on its cover with the large headline: 'The Russians Stole the Show'".
Major-General Bronislav Porozinskiy, an IDEX-93 participant, who directly led the missile personnel's operations, talked about how the preparation for the exhibition and participation in it proceeded (from Vestnik PVO Magazine, No. 12, 1993):
- "We originally planned to display the S-300PMU1 Air Defense Missile System only at the pavilion, in the form of a mockup. But at the beginning of January, 1993, it was decided that the system would be displayed at Abu Dhabi in the original, which placed the missile personnel in extremely complex conditions.
- "By that time, we had mastered the redeployment of the S-300 using motor vehicle transportation and via rail. But the distance to Abu Dhabi is more than 3,500 kilometers, there is no railway there. Two other types of transportation remained - sea and air. Sea seemed to be simpler, but was not suited based upon time and therefore only air transport remained... A dress rehearsal of the loading of the weapon into an An-124 aircraft was conducted at an airport in the Moscow suburbs already on January 21 and 22.
"The next phase of preparation -- was the selection of the personnel. The distinctive feature consisted of selecting officers, who had mastered several specialties, because we were restricted in a quantitative sense.
"As a result, the crews of the command post, of two battalions, and crews for the delivery, loading and unloading of the missiles, survey control, energy supply and the resolution of other life support issues were formed from 38 officers and warrant officers.
"Colonel M. Zubov led the command post.
"After the completion of crew team building at the range, they completed the march to the airfield and conducted the loading of the equipment on two An-124 aircraft on February 3 and completed the flight to a military air base at Abu Dhabi on February 4.
"They were loaded with an air temperature of -5 degrees Centigrade and they were unloaded already with a temperature of +29 degrees Centigrade. As a result, the equipment was literally covered with water from condensation...
"...The first aircraft was unloaded in 32 minutes and the second -- in 20 minutes (no more than two hours -- that is the standard that has been developed at home).
"...What did we encounter in the Arabian Desert? What we did not know and could not imagine -- there were heavy rains. It turns out that in the desert, where in general it rarely rains, there are very heavy downpours approximately once every 15-20 years. That also took place on February 5-7, 1993. During that time, so much precipitation fell that the desert was transformed into solid streams of water, which destroyed roads and embankments.
"When we reached the test range, I saw roads, which had been washed out for 25-30 meters and to a depth of up to 1-1.5 meters, and there were streams of water and thick mud on the roads. And the locations, which had been proposed for our position -- were a solid sea of water. But the rains had already stopped by February 9 and the water rapidly disappeared. By February 11, the roads had dried and UAE engineering units had filled them...
"...On February 13 at 1210 hours, the launch of a "Reys" target was conducted for the conduct of the alignment and flight calibration of the S-300 Air Defense Missile Complex. The RPN [illumination and guidance radar] crew locked on to the target and tracked it. It conducted the launch of one missile.
"The calibration flight demonstrated that on the whole we could accomplish the combat mission here. The fact that there were very many reflections from the terrain was a distinctive feature of the desert...
"...On February 15 at 1930 hours, based upon coordination with the exhibition's promoters, we abandoned the demonstration area and redeployed all of our equipment to the test range.
"On February 17 at 1603 hours, we launched two "Reys" targets at an altitude of less than one kilometer at a range of 50 kilometers with a turn onto the attack course. Both battalions detected both targets and tracked them in a stable manner. The equipment operated without failures. The crews calmly and confidently accomplished their functional duties. When the targets approached the launch position, they made the decision to destroy them at a range of 33 kilometers and to launch missiles against the lead target.
"Both targets were destroyed at a range of 28 and 18 kilometers from the launch position. One battalion conducted the firing and two missiles were launched against each target. The targets were physically destroyed and their further flight was terminated after the encounter with the first missiles.
"After the assessment of the firing results, at my command the command post and both battalions tore down the equipment and formed up into a travel column in 6.5 minutes and left their launch positions. They completed a march of approximately three kilometers. Then they returned, occupied the position and prepared for battle in six minutes..."
Actually, the two missile salvos that were conducted by the S-300PMU1 before the eyes of the entire world imparted an entirely different idea to the exhibition. There was nothing left for the Americans, who had publicized their Patriot only in the form of mockups, but to smile dutifully...
We advanced the idea on the conduct of demonstration competitions between the S-300PMU1 and the Patriot, which was totally implausible for the arms market, on the wave of euphoria that emerged after the S-300PMU1's successful demonstration at Abu Dhabi. However, the Americans did not accept the challenge. According to their statements, the Patriot had proven itself in combat with Iraqi Scuds in the sky over the Persian Gulf, which insured its acquisition by several states under extremely favorable conditions for the United States. We still had to gain a market for the S-300.
But the first attempts to emerge on that market have shown the presence of unflinching interest in this weapon among very strange purchasers from the United States, who were much more interested in the system's technical capabilities than in its acquisition. In the case with the S-300, they had no opportunity whatsoever to act using the methods, which had been previously proven for providing a detailed acquaintance with the S-75, S-125, and S-200. By the beginning of the 1990s, we could literally count the number of countries -- owners of the S-300 -- on our fingers and they couldn't even think about this system's participation in any combat operations whatsoever where they could "familiarize themselves" with it from a captured model. Only one, but correct variant remained -- the acquisition of an S-300 using devious methods.
However, even after repeated requests for a sales contract for the S-300 from various parties in the United States, they didn't manage to conclude a contract. Precisely at that time, several S-300PMU1 complexes were acquired under very favorable commercial terms by China. And therefore, the Americans had to change their tactics -- to set out on the path of the acquisition of the S-300 piecemeal.
In December 1994, Belarus' "Beltekheksport" Company turned out to be among those who were not able to reject the favorable proposals. A canister with the equipment of one of the first variants of the S-300PT-1 System, which was previously located at the Minsk Higher Engineering Air Defense Missile School training facility, was sold through it for $6 million. Soon 18 missiles -- eight 5V55R, eight 5V55K and two 5V55RUD -- were acquired in Ukraine.
At the same time, one more nearly detective story, which was associated with the delivery of the S-300 abroad, was developing. During the course of the summer-fall of 1994, some components of the S-300 were delivered to Croatia on a cargo aircraft. At that time, an international embargo was in effect on deliveries of weapons to that country, which was striving to gain its independence from Yugoslavia. Therefore, the source of the deliveries was not reported at that time, although there were not that many places from which an S-300 could be supplied across several borders to the Croatians...
Based upon the assessments of Western experts, two S-300 launchers with missiles, several missiles in canisters and various pieces of equipment were supplied to Croatia using several scheduled aircraft flights. At the same time, none of the military experts noted the arrival of the S-300 system's radars in Croatia.
Croatia did not begin to keep the secret of its precious acquisitions from its neighboring enemies. The S-300 launchers were soon displayed at a military parade. However, after the parade, the launchers were once again stored at the dumps, where military experts from a number of countries visited them, including from Israel, which seriously feared the S-300 deliveries from Russia to the countries of the Middle East that were planned at that time.
But then again, in the next 10 years, the S-300 found itself only in two countries of the states of the Far Abroad -- in China and Greece.
After several years, the S-300's odd appearance in Croatia became a topic for an official investigation in this country. As a result, information appeared that Croatia's purchase of elements of the S-300 System was carried out through the Israeli Firm "Nevada Trade" from the selling firm, which was named in the documents as "Winsley Finance".
During the course of the investigation, assumptions were expressed that the Israelis acquired a complete S-300 Complex -- with radars, missiles, and needed equipment - in the process of this deal. However, in the future the missiles and the launchers were sold to Croatia "for parades", and the Israelis retained the radars for the development of possible countermeasures to that system. Apparently, that work turned out to be successful: in the summer of 2001, representatives of the Israeli Air Force reported about the successes, which had been achieved by the firm IMI [Israeli Military Industries] in the development of the ITALD [Improved Tactical Air-Launched Decoy] decoy, the flight of which is capable of deceiving the S-300's equipment.
At the same time, the S-300's parade displays continued. In August 1995, demonstration live firings of the S-300PMU1 Air Defense Missile System were conducted at Kapustin Yar Test Range and a display of air defense military equipment was conducted for representatives of military delegations.
The 83M6Ye System's intelligence and target designation hub and air defense missile complex in the composition of the 30N6Ye Illumination and Guidance Radar and three 5P85T launchers with 48N6Ye air defense missiles were deployed for the conduct of these firings.
The live firings were conducted against an La-17M radio-controlled target, with simulates an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, an 8K14 operational-tactical ballistic missile, which was launched from a distance of 70 kilometers from the air defense missile complex, and a "Kaban" small ballistic missile target, which was developed based upon the MR-10 meteorological missile. All of the targets were detected in a timely manner. They were tracked in a stable manner using the S-300PMU1 System and were destroyed by its missile with 100 percent effectiveness.
An air defense missile brigade's "Senezh-M1" and "Baykal-1" automated combat command and control systems were also deployed near the launch position for a demonstration of air defense weapons and military equipment.
During the course of the "Boyevoye Sodruzhestvo-99" coalition exercises that were conducted in Astrakhan Oblast at the end of August 1999, the issues of the mobility of the PVO Troops' complexes were resolved for the first time. A change of air defense systems' positions and their accomplishment of combat missions under jamming conditions were refined. According to the statement of Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief A. Kornukov, the leader of the exercises, strike aviation "was employed" against them to support the morale-psychological training of the air defense crews "so that the servicemen would know that, if they didn't accomplish the mission, an air strike would destroy their position". Besides the destruction of airborne targets, the S-300PM air defense missile complexes conducted strikes against the breakthrough location of the aggressors' presumed saboteur team (ITAR-TASS, Izvestiya, August 27, 1999).
During the course of the firings against the ground targets, they demonstrated that missile warheads with 36,000 "prepared" fragments are capable of covering an area of more than 120,000 square meters each.
After their acceptance into the country's PVO Troops inventory, the S-300P family's complexes gradually replaced the obsolete S-75 "Volkhov" air defense missile complexes of all modifications that were removed from the inventory, while surpassing the latter many times over based upon firing capabilities and mobility with a smaller number of servicing personnel. When the number of S-300P Systems in the PVO Troops was increased, it became possible to begin the transition to a single complex (in various modifications and versions) and to gradually remove the S-75, S-125 and S-200 complexes from alert duty and the inventory.
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