"Ok kids, can anybody tell me how many Surface to Air radar stations were bombed in the Balkan peacekeeping campaigns?" Julie asked the class.
"All of them?" A young kid who looked like a typical computer geek answered with a raised eyebrow.
"Sort of." Julie smiled. "The answer really is, anything that was turned on got bombed. Including cheap Chinese manufactured microwave ovens with a hole drilled in the door. Open fields with some old farm equipment, tarps, and logs could become an airfield. Space heaters could become a Command Post on a mountain side. Decoys, dummies, and battlefield clutter were only limited by the imagination of the planners."
"Right," The kid smiled, looking at his chart of wavelengths, "because the average household microwave shares the same wavelength as an S Band radar, and a commercial microwave oven in the L Band."
"Very good." Julie replied as the rest of the class gazed on with a glassy look in their eyes.
"Remember, we've covered the triangular ambush for low flying rotary wing aircraft." Julie lectured, snapping some of the students out of the overdose induced haze. "Remember, provide a threat in three directions and overwhelm the pilots OODA loop so that they can't make a good decision?"
"Right," A middle age man spoke up, "So instead of overwhelming a low flier with bullets, we overwhelm a high flyer with SAM alerts?"
"Right, imagine you are up there, where no small arms fire can reach you, and your radar warning system starts flashing L band and S band SAM warnings?" Julie asked, noting all the students eyes bright with attention now.
"I'd probably crap myself and start pumping chaff and flares." A bearded man in spoke for the first time.
"And that is why we are learning how to make decoy SAM RADAR sites." Julie replied. "Open your texts to page 47 to see examples of radar main reflectors that you can easily replicate with sheets of plywood and camouflage paint. Think about what emitters we can gather on the open market to replicate the signal output, and what timing devices we can use to replicate a duty cycle."
"Remember, every bomb or HARM that blows up a decoy is tens of thousands of dollars not being spent bombing actual humans." Julie lectured. "You have 15 minutes to choose a system to duplicate in wood, and conduct an initial sketch and materials list." She clicked her stopwatch, "Go."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Effing brilliant! I thought "Smoky Sam" rockets were good stuff, but this takes the game up an order of magnitude.
Have to wonder how that might play out as field trip/homework fun on some of the numerous approach corridors hereabouts near places like Davis/Monthan, Nellis, 29 Palms, Chocolate Mtns, etc.
Good times.
-Aesop
Great Info!
I heard recently, that the PTB used a form RADAR to taken down Sen. Paul Wellstones aircraft. What say ye?
Buckworth
@ Aesop -
you want to see something REALLY trippy (as they said in the '60's), search "Wedge Oldham Nike Hercules." The guy built a 1/3 scale Nike Hercules SAM in his garage, that can fly to 10,000 feet.
The smallest physical radar threats are also the latest/effective threats. The shown Radar is a Fansong, or SA-6 missile. to big physically and complex signals replication for such an old world threat. Not a credible close up threat since minimum range is more than visual range.
To replicate the current small footprint man portable missile systems that are the type of threat ALL aircraft will avoid at all costs one must replicate the handheld russian systems such as the early SA-7 or the more current SA-14/16. The degree of emitters, both IR and Radar is complex and the intel on the missiles seekers and host radars is tough to get and will attract HARM missiles.
The waveform generators require to simulate threat radars with a degree of fidelity that a RWR will react to is way out of the price range of an insurgent. If battlefield scavenging comes up with jammers... that too would require significant intel to make it functionally usefull instead of a beacon to be targeted
A Chain shot through an improvised morter tube will force the aircraft above 10K foot, the same as the ZSU-23-4 AAA would do without attracting harms...
John
John,
I think you meant to leave that comment out at WRSA since there is no picture of a Fansong here on my blog.
John,
Will the microwave ovens AM described give a fast-mover driver a credible mud spike on his RWR or not?
Will current drones be able to pick it up and react as well?
Daniel
Daniel,
The answer is, "It Depends", see here for further details.
http://www.vectorsite.net/ttradar_5.html
AM
Post a Comment