Surface Cruise Missile Defence

Yes, but you would need quite a lot of radars with high antennas to actually see any sort of low flying cruise missiles. Some sort of radar like for example the one for TOR-M1 or ASRAD could be used in conjuction with 1-2 vehicles with radar cued MANPADS to protect all kinds of fixed sites which would be targeted by things like Tomahawks and such.

It is called surprise. The defences were looking for something quite different in a completely different place… ie up for high trajectory ballistic rockets. I would also suggest that the Americans tend to rely on their airforce for real protection, and have become a bit soft in that regard. The Serbs on the other hand would be looking for anything from anywhere. Generally positions out in the middle of nowhere would be very lucky to be on the path of an incoming weapon and the path of that weapon would be designed to reduce its visibility… it wouldn’t fly through towns or cities unless it couldn’t help it. The air defences near the actual missiles target would have the best chance of bringing it down as long as they were forwarned and had the right gear.

There are still no guarantees.

One conclusion,LACM is hard to counter and US is expert in these area(Tomahawk)but intercepting it is another issue!

Mar 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iraqis started lobbing Silkworms from Umm Qusar at Kuwait City and still managed to get thru. Goes to show how difficult it is to intercept cruise missiles despite a full alert status (and these are just Styx copies fired at random).

It is called surprise. The defences were looking for something quite different in a completely different place… ie up for high trajectory ballistic rockets. I would also suggest that the Americans tend to rely on their airforce for real protection, and have become a bit soft in that regard. The Serbs on the other hand would be looking for anything from anywhere. Generally positions out in the middle of nowhere would be very lucky to be on the path of an incoming weapon and the path of that weapon would be designed to reduce its visibility… it wouldn’t fly through towns or cities unless it couldn’t help it. The air defences near the actual missiles target would have the best chance of bringing it down as long as they were forwarned and had the right gear.

There are still no guarantees.

I figured AAA will have a lot of problems against low flying cruise missiles, considering there will be a lot of stuff in the way.

How about Vehicle mounted MANPADS radar cued by different sensors? These are cheap, about 2 people would need to man each vehicle, a driver and a weapons operator while they would receive targeting info from nearby surface radars, ships or AWACS.

Well that goes to show how much I was paying attention at the start of the war 😀

Nice article, by the way.

That’s interesting, I don’t recall any SILKWORMs being launched at us in Kuwait. I’ll have to look into that.

U didn’t read my attach txt? It describe perfectly how the attack occur during Gulf war 2.By the way,it is a widely known incident.A simple search on internet will come up with quite a lot of article on it.

That’s interesting, I don’t recall any SILKWORMs being launched at us in Kuwait. I’ll have to look into that.

Get a ****load of Mig-31s!

Mar 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iraqis started lobbing Silkworms from Umm Qusar at Kuwait City and still managed to get thru. Goes to show how difficult it is to intercept cruise missiles despite a full alert status (and these are just Styx copies fired at random).

Not only get through but totally undetected… 😉

Mar 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iraqis started lobbing Silkworms from Umm Qusar at Kuwait City and still managed to get thru. Goes to show how difficult it is to intercept cruise missiles despite a full alert status (and these are just Styx copies fired at random).

The problem of manning and remaining alert with all these systems makes it prohibitive except in times of war or high tension. Obviously the vast majority of the defences need to be cheap and readily deployable, like towed ZU-23Ms with new all weather sights and ballistic computers and powered aiming, plus MANPADs and light weapons that are cheap to fire like Pantsir… where the missile is just a dumb robot and all the expensive smart stuff is in the vehcile and not destroyed with each launch. Cheaper AWACS like airship based systems that can be tethered, light jet trainers used for interception and weapon carriage and numbers… with situationally aware pilots you don’t need a Flanker… the Flankers longest range weapons can be carried by the smallest fighters if they are correctly fitted for them… and other assets can provide target information for them.

I understand that, but your fighters and AWACS cannot give you a 24/7 radar picture from the top. How abot using some sort of ground radar that would be able to detect low flying cruise missiles around 5-10kms and then pass the info onto the AAA right beside it to target it. Of course the AAA would be extremely cheap, the radar would be a little more expensive. Build a lot of these and place them everywhere.

As for MANPADS, I agree besides cruise missiles have a very low IR signature which would make it harder.

Basically radar and IR sensors in the air and on the ground and human assets in the form of a fully networked air defence system where soldiers have networked laptops showing the local air situation generated by multiple assets including ground and air based radar and other sensors for warning of an incoming weapon.

The main problem for MANPADs is that flying at near super sonic speeds there is little audio warning of their approach. They are small and tend to fly very low… however good human intelligence and radar coverage can allow MANPAD armed troops forewarned to engage such targets. The Igla-S is designed specifically to engage missiles and RPVs. ShortrangeAD systems like TOR and OSA have the advantage of radar and can contribute their radar view to the local air defence picture but they are more expensive than Igla-S. SPAAGs are useful around potential targets but are too short ranged to be economically viable as the only defence. A Lift type fighter might be very useful if fully integrated into the air defence network. An aircraft can use cannon to bring down cruise missiles and can cover large gaps where ground based systems are not implimented. (ie over a large lake or a desert/tundra or area to sparsely populated for an army base).

There would be a LOT of cruise missiles fired at different targets, like airfields, industrial sites, command posts/headquarters and many other important installations. What about this idea? Use a lot of cheap mobile(wheeled) radar guided AAA getting info from some sort of nearby radars that can detect low flying targets, at any ranges.

When has anyone shot a cruise missile at the United States?

As far as Iraqi successes, I seem to recall that some of their SA-8 systems were able to shoot down Tomahawks.

Cruise missiles r Hard to counter even the US who is consider to possess some of the most advance sensor failed to detect obsolete cruise missiles!
Gulf War 2 is a v good example! Below is a text from US Joint Force Staff colleage abt LACM threat to US.