Source: China Military Network - PLA Daily
Although the name sounds very "high-end", it is questioned whether it can represent the development direction of the next generation of anti-radiation missile - In late July this year, the AGM-88G "extended range advanced anti-radiation missile" developed by the US Nog Company conducted the third live-fire test, and detected, identified, positioned and attacked the target land-based air defense radar system.
Previously, the Indian Defense Research Department also revealed that it plans to develop new anti-radiation missiles to counter air early warning and control systems. Similar research and developments of
"frequently exerted efforts", making anti-radiation missiles repeatedly become a hot topic of attention.
So, what is an anti-radiation missile? To answer this question, we have to first mention another more well-known equipment - radar . As an important means to detect the firepower threat of opponents' weapons, radar is a well-deserved key node in information warfare and is known as the "scanning eye" and "perception artifact". It is precisely because of its appearance that there is a saying of a transparent battlefield. Whether radar is in an advantageous position even directly affects the direction of the war and determines the outcome of the war.
is also why "launch attacks first and attacks the opponent's radar" has become a consensus among the armies of all countries. Anti-radiation missiles were born for this. The "short-term blinding" effects of soft killing methods such as
and electromagnetic suppression are different. The greatest ability of anti-radiation missiles is to capture and identify the electromagnetic waves emitted by enemy radars and not easily detectable by opponents, and can directly "extract the eyeballs" against the "wave" to achieve the purpose of physically destroying enemy radars.
Since its inception, the "cat and mouse game" of anti-radiation missiles and radar has been underway.
Especially in recent years, in military conflicts in some hot spots, anti-radiation missiles have successfully "hunting" their opponents air defense system radars, making them famous.
But there are also reports that in the above confrontation, some anti-radiation missiles were "counter-killed", intercepted, or lured and interfered, which made people "question mark" in their minds.
So, at what stage has the anti-radiation missile developed? In what aspects will it develop in the future? Please see today's interpretation.
Anti-radiation missile
"high-end hunter" in the form of prey
■ Zhang Naiqian Yu Tong Chen Long Li Xuefeng
US AGM136A "Silent Rainbow" anti-radiation missile. Data picture
is good at "following the clues"
There is a popular saying on the Internet: The highest-end hunters often appear in the form of prey. Anti-radiation missiles are such an existence - they were first captured by the radar as "prey", and then turned into "hunter" and attacked the radar.
anti-radiation missile is also known as anti-radar missile. As the name suggests, it was born to counter radar.
radar is good at using electromagnetic waves as its foundation. Response radar naturally also needs to "make a fuss" on electromagnetic waves.
uses electronic jamming equipment to electromagnetically suppress the radar, which is called " soft kill ". However, this method can only be "controlled for a while" and cannot be controlled for a long time. If the relevant technology fails, it will also affect our electronic equipment.
uses anti-radiation missiles to strike, which is considered "hard destroy". Once hit, it will cause permanent damage to radar antenna at the very least, and at the worst, it will cause the target radar system to be paralyzed for a long time.
and some missiles equipped with active radar seekers need to "find with a lantern" when implementing attacks. The process of anti-radiation missiles flying to the target has the meaning of "borrowing force and hitting force". It is good at "following the clues". Specifically, it is in the fog of the battlefield, while sniffing the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar, running towards the source of the electromagnetic waves, and finally achieving accurate "hunting".
In terms of aerodynamic appearance design, control compartment, warhead, power compartment, communication device, etc., the anti-radiation missile has a similar architecture to other missiles. The unique ability to "trace the source" of electromagnetic waves is largely due to its different seekers.
has a passive radar seeker, which is the main feature of anti-radiation missiles.With this type of seeker, it can obtain and compare the electromagnetic waves emitted by the target radar without emitting electromagnetic waves, and then launch an attack "as the situation".
passive radar seeker generally consists of an antenna array (receiver), microwave integrated circuit and radio frequency signal processor. The development level of these components together determines the strength of the seeker's performance, especially the frequency band range they can cover. Generally speaking, the wider the frequency band range covered by the seeker, the more types of radars can be discovered and attacked.
The Kh-31P anti-radiation missile developed by Russia is equipped with three seekers covering different frequency bands, which are used to deal with various types of radars that use different frequency bands to operate in NATO . When "evolved" to Kh-31PM, the three seekers were combined into one, and their anti-electronic interference ability increased instead of falling. This change is precisely due to the improvement of the performance of passive radar seekers, especially the significantly larger frequency band range covered by a single seeker.
's high "sensitivity" to electromagnetic waves makes anti-radiation missiles ultimately become a well-deserved "radar killer" and expands the "hunting" range to other radiation sources such as jammers.
As the saying goes, "Success is Xiao He and failure is Xiao He". While anti-radiation missiles have become popular because they can "follow the clues" and their high dependence on electromagnetic waves also inevitably leads to a dilemma - it is difficult to start working without electromagnetic waves, which has become a problem that must be solved later on the upgrade of anti-radiation missiles.
The back wave pushes the front wave
Since its debut, anti-radiation missiles have been "fighting" with various radars, especially air defense system radars, showing a trend of chasing each other and having a high or low level.
In order to tear open the hole in the opponent's air defense system and effectively destroy the opponent's radar, R&D personnel from various countries have continuously empowered anti-radiation missiles and promoted their repeated upgrades.
In order to solve the problem of "no trace" of anti-radiation missiles after radar shutdown, the anti-radiation missile developed later introduced guidance methods such as cross-linked inertial navigation and GPS positioning, adding memory functions, and starting to "memorize" or "do things according to rules", realizing that "the 'fuji' can continue even if the attack is cut off."
In order to include more types of radars into the "recipe", the seekers of anti-radiation missiles have been "evolving", such as expanding the range of antenna sensing frequency bands, accumulating different radar signal characteristics, and improving the sensitivity of digital processors. The AGM-45 "Mockingbird" anti-radiation missile , which was first put into actual combat in the United States, was soon replaced by the AGM-78 "standard" anti-radiation missile . One of the reasons is that the radar frequency band covered by the former is narrow. The AGM-88 "Ham" anti-radiation missile that was later released can cover most radar frequency band ranges installed by the Soviet Union. The importance of the "evolution" of the
seeker can be seen from the application practice of the AGM-88A anti-radiation missile in Gulf War . Faced with some air defense radars used by Iraqi , AGM-88A was once unable to recognize them. One important reason was that signal characteristics were not accumulated enough. This problem was not solved until after the launch of AGM-88B.
At the same time, with the upgrade of the air defense and anti-missile system, the threat faced by the anti-radiation missile carrier platform has increased. Radars that effectively attack opponents from outside the defense zone have become a new requirement for anti-radiation missiles. To achieve this goal, the range and rate of fire are required to the ram engine, the accuracy of strikes are required to increase the missile's cruise time in the air to ensure the electromagnetic suppression time, etc., which have become real options one after another.
On this basis, the usage mode of anti-radiation missiles has been continuously improved and perfected. The AGM-88 "Ham" anti-radiation missile is designed with three usage modes to adapt to different combat environments. At the same time, the size of the anti-radiation missile is moderately reduced to meet the carrying requirements such as being built into the bomb bay. The traction of
combat needs, coupled with the ever-changing high-tech "grown", has made the anti-radiation missiles evolve in an evolutionary trend of "the next wave pushes the previous wave", and have successively completed the evolution from the first generation to the third generation. Among the first generation of anti-radiation missiles, the United States' AGM-45 "Mockingbird" and the Soviet Union's AS-5 "Salmon" are more representative.The main feature of this generation of anti-radiation missiles is that the seeker's working frequency band is narrow and can only attack radar targets in specific frequency bands; the receiver has low sensitivity and poor accuracy; and does not have the ability to deal with the target radar shutdown. Among the second-generation anti-radiation missiles, the US AGM-78 "standard" and other representatives. This generation of anti-radiation missiles improves the bandwidth and sensitivity of the receiver in the seeker, increases the anti-target radar shutdown function, and increases the missile range and warhead power. However, its seeker frequency band coverage is still limited, and there are few platforms that can be used to carry transmission. The most typical examples of the third-generation anti-radiation missiles are the American AGM-88 "Ham", the British "Alam", the French " Ammat ", and the Russian Kh-31P. This generation of anti-radiation missile seeker can cover most of the working frequency bands of active radars, with fast response, long range, high power and good anti-interference performance. The use of composite guidance technology to improve the attack success rate has begun to become its new feature.
At present, there are also opinions that AGM-88G "extended range advanced anti-radiation missile" should be listed as the fourth generation anti-radiation missile, and its capabilities such as stealth, large range, and end-stage high-speed and high maneuverability should be regarded as the basis for division. However, there are more disagreements in this regard, believing that these characteristics are not enough to become the classification criteria for the fourth-generation anti-radiation missile. Whether the division of
is appropriate or not, it is certain that the existence of these disputes reflects a fact that anti-radiation missiles are still accelerating their "evolution".
focuses on gaining advantages
"evolution" paths, the first battlefield to win. Anti-radiation missiles must play their full role, and it is crucial to gain and maintain certain advantages in the competition with radar.
At present, the new anti-radiation missile developed by some countries or the concept of next-generation anti-radiation missiles proposed by the next generation reflects the importance of this aspect. Taking the AGM-88G "Extended Range Advanced Anti-Radiation Missile" as an example, the reason why it is a bit "radical" in increasing the range is that it wants to "suppress people" in PK with advanced air defense systems, especially air defense missiles.
Of course, maintaining the advantage is not only reflected in range, but in all aspects of the development of anti-radiation missiles. Based on the information disclosed by media in various countries, the development of anti-radiation missiles may present the following characteristics in the future:
First, continue to maintain "clear ears and clear eyes". The seeker of the anti-radiation missile is equivalent to its "eye and ears", and it is crucial to maintain "clear ears and bright eyes". After the anti-radiation missile seekers in some countries have been "upgraded", they can not only intercept the main lobe target of the radar antenna, but also their side lobe and dorsal lobe targets. The achievement of these achievements has almost made it inevitable for R&Ds from various countries to continue to tap the potential of seekers in the future.
At present, compound seekers, data links, etc. have also been invested in the ranks of "assisting punches". Their application is likely to become the norm in the future. Anti-radiation missile search, target positioning and anti-interference capabilities will inevitably increase further.
The second is "bigger hands and longer arms". Many of the earlier anti-radiation missiles were improved by air-to-air missiles , air-to-ground missiles , surface-to-air missiles , and surface-to-ground missiles. This allows it to strike different targets by replacing the seeker. After that, anti-radiation missiles began to turn to "specialized in technology". However, under the "shaping" of the strong confrontational environment on the battlefield, the anti-radiation missile may become a "versatile" in the future, that is, by improving it, including modularizing it, so that it can not only strike targets that emit electromagnetic waves, but also attack other targets on the ground, at sea, and in the air. After all, multiple uses of one bomb can not only improve combat efficiency, but also effectively reduce the difficulty of cost and logistics supply.
The third is to seek stronger battlefield survival and deterrence. The emergence of new "skills" such as stealth, large range, high speed and high maneuverability in the end...the emergence of new "skills" such as anti-radiation missiles is essentially a positive response to future battlefield needs - further improving battlefield survivability and deterrence. This response is reflected in many aspects. For example, it began to seek multi-platform launch capabilities, gradually focused on implementing saturation attacks , etc. Israeli "Habbi" anti-radiation drone, the US AGM136A "Silent Rainbow" anti-radiation missile, the UK's "Alam" anti-radiation missile with parachutes, and the "joint" between some anti-radiation missiles and artificial intelligence technology, also provides reference and ideas for the future anti-radiation missiles to enhance the battlefield's survival and deterrence.
Fourth, further move towards system integration. After all, the problem that anti-radiation missiles are more difficult to solve is to discover and locate targets in a timely manner. To solve this problem, on the one hand, anti-radiation missiles must go further in terms of "fighting alone" capabilities, and must be able to stand alone to a certain extent and "decided"; on the other hand, it will become increasingly important to integrate into the combat network system at a deeper level. With the support of the data link, some anti-radiation missiles have already possessed the function of "people in the loop", which laid the foundation for them to "hunter" with the help of the combat network system. It can be foreseeable that seeking "eyeight" to the combat network system will become a major direction for the development of anti-radiation missiles in the future. Because only by deeply integrating into the system can we find our own "place of use" in a combat environment where "soft killing and "hard destroying" means can we find our own "place of use" in a timely and accurate manner to maximize the attack efficiency, so as to better shoulder the heavy responsibility of controlling electromagnetic power, together with anti-radiation shells, anti-radiation bombs, anti-radiation drone , etc., and play the due role of "electromagnetic space hunter" in the information battlefield.
Russian Kh-31P anti-radiation missile. Data picture
France "Amart" anti-radiation missile. Data picture
British "Alam" anti-radiation missile. Data picture
US AGM-88G "Extended Range Advanced Anti-Radiation Missile". Data picture
Israeli "Habbi" anti-radiation drone. Data picture
provided by: Yang Ming
