Inside The AWACS

Large scale war-fighting scenarios are underway at Elmendorf Air Force Base. It’s all part of “Cope Thunder” where military units from across the world come to participate. The United Kingdom brought along their AWACS plane and offered a rare look inside. AWACS stands for Airborne Warning and Control System. Military officials say it’s an invaluable piece of equipment, whether it be in the United Kingdom or the United States.

In a wartime situation, early warning is key. That’s where the AWACS plane comes in.

Tech. Sgt. Theo McNamara, a spokesperson for Elmendorf Air Force Base says, “It is a critical aircraft, a critical platform in any combat environment. It’s really the eyes and the ears of the F-15s that we see in training around Alaska.”

This week the United Kingdom offered a rare look inside of an AWACS plane that is in town for Cope Thunder exercises. The training enables air force units from around the world to sharpen their skills, exchange air operation tactics and promote closer relations with participating countries. Mock air battles are taped and then reviewed by technicians who point out tactics that were performed well and those that could get them killed in a real war scenario.

“There’s no doubt there’s a value to us,” says Mike Palmer the UK Army Detachment Commander for Number Eight Squadron. Palmer says that training together is invaluable, because the coalition between forces becomes stronger, “… Because that enables us to work on our procedures together to get the same practices, we found that we’re so close in the way we operate, that by exercising together we’re about to step into harmony and to start operating in no time at all.”

Those operations will include working AWACS planes like this one for quick 360-degree airborne surveillance that provides early warning that has saved the lives of countless troops in wartime situations.

Cooperative Cope Thunder has taken place annually in Alaska since 1992 with more than 1,500 people participating each year.

We expect to have this aircraft with a range and combat payload close to that of the Su-27/30-series fighters

With a payload similar to the Su-27/-30 series, how is this fighter supposed to be light ?

Karna,

Thanks for the information. Do you know about the level of upgradation involved, that is SMT-1 or SMT-2 ? The last news regarding the SMT upgrade was that an Indian team consisting of officials from IAF and ASTE were in Russia to check out the SMT upgrade.

One more question. Till now the MiG officials have only acknowledged that they are working for a Bars-29 for the MiG-29K. Is the news regarding Bars-29 for upgraded MiG-29 a confirmed one ?

BTW guys, the SMT upgrade involves increasing the fuel capacity of the fulcrum by adding an enlarged spine fairing along the middle and rear parts of the airframe. It is part and parcel of the SMT upg.

Aviation commander comments on Tu-22 crash

VELIKY NOVGOROD. July 9 (Interfax-Northwest) – The crewmembers of a Tu-22 bomber that crashed in the Novgorod region on Friday could have survived by ejecting, long-range aviation commander Lieut. Gen. Igor Khvorov told journalists.

“Having finished their routine training flight, the pilots were preparing to land at Soltsy airfield. The airplane was 10 kilometers away from the runway at that time”,” Khvorov said.

“However, when the airplane was seven kilometers from the runway, something went wrong. It tilted to the left side, increased its vertical speed and crashed two kilometers from the runway,” he said.

“Judging by the fact that the pilots decided against ejecting from the airplane, although an order to the effect was given by ground services, they struggled to save the airplane until the last moment. We presume they were no longer able to use their ejection seats because the situation became critical,” the commander said.

The Tu-22M3 model involved in the crash has ejection seats that allow pilots to escape from the airplane even after it has made an emergency landing, he said.

“Obviously, a decision to eject was taken too late, as none of the airplane’s rescue systems was activated,” the general said.

Khvorov said that three theories behind the incident are being examined, but declined to provide further details.

The Tu-22 crashed five kilometers from the village of Soltsy, killing all four crewmembers aboard.

An article by Mr. Piotr Butowski.

( JANE’S MISSILES AND ROCKETS – MARCH 01, 2004)

JANE’S MISSILES AND ROCKETS – MARCH 01, 2004

Novator offers a redesigned KS-172S-1 long-range AAM
Piotr Butowski

Sukhoi has displayed a model of the Su-35 multirole fighter carrying under its wings two KS-172S-1 ultra-long range air-to-air missiles, writes Piotr Butowski. The weapon is an export variant of a missile originally offered to the Russian Air Force by the Novator Company of Yekaterinburg.

Work on the KS-172 air-to-air missile began in 1991. Alternative designations ‘Izdeliye 172 (K-172)’ and the anglicised ‘AAM-L’ have also been reported. The basis of the new weapon was the second stage of the 3M83 surface-to-air missile used by the S-300V (SA-12 Gladiator) anti-aircraft system.

A full-scale mock-up of the KS-172 was shown in front of Su-27 fighter at Zhukovsky in August 1993. but over the next 10 years there was no further news of the project. The model shown late last year has a different shape to that of the mock-up shown in 1993. Both versions have a two-stage propulsion system, but in the current KS-172S-1 design the length of the tandem-mounted booster has been increased while its diameter has been reduced. The length of the missile without booster has been reduced so that the overall length of the complete round is unchanged.

According to Novator, the KS-172S-1 is 6.0m long and weighs 700kg, dimensions which are unchanged from those announced in 1993. Its diameter has been reported as 40cm.

In the 1993 design, the nose section of the missile was of smaller diameter than the rest of the fuselage, a configuration which proves additional internal volume for the rocket motor. In the current design, the fuselage is of constant diameter, and the tail-mounted cruciform control fins are of shorter span and longer chord.

The missile is guided to the target by a multi-mode guidance system typical for beyond-visual range missiles. In the first phase of flight, guidance is by inertial navigation with command updates in the mid-course phase. An active-radar seeker is used for terminal guidance. According to earlier reports, the missile carries a directional high-explosive (HE) fragmentation warhead, probably weighing about 50kg, and initiated by a radar proximity fuze.

Maximum range of the KS-172S-1 export variant is 300km; the version proposed for Russian air forces is believed to have a range of 400km. The missile will be used against air targets flying at altitudes from 3m to 30km with speeds up to 4,000km/h and manoeuvring at up to 12g. Typical targets could include all types of aircraft (including AWACS or J-STARS platforms, tankers, reconnaissance and electronic-warfare aircraft), cruise missiles, as well as long and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles which pose a threat to the KS-172-armed fighter.

Several test launches of the KS-172 have been made, but these rounds were not fitted with a guidance system. The firing of rounds fitted only with an autopilot and programmed to fly pre-planned manoeuvres is common in the early stages of air-to-air missile programmes.

The Russian air force did not adopt the KS-172, but opted to back a competing K-37M missile offered by Vympel. It is surprising to see that the Novator weapon is now being offered for export.

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JANE’S MISSILES AND ROCKETS – MAY 01, 2004

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India and Russia negotiate co-operation on KS-172 AAM
David C Isby

Russia and India are currently negotiating a long-range air-to-air missile (AAM) project as a follow-on to the joint Brahmos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile programme, writes David C Isby. The Novator Design Bureau in Yekaterinburg is developing a long-range missile designated the KS-172 or R-172 (see JMR March 2004, p1). The proposed negotiations would make available Indian investment and technical assistance.

Novator’s proposed partner, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is currently working on its own beyond-visual-range AAM, the Astra. A variant of the KS-172 could be used to arm India’s Su-35 fighter force for use against high-value standoff targets such as radar surveillance aircraft and flight-refuelling tankers.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance their understanding of arms trade activities, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
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troung, on the HSLD thing.

OFB website

OFB = Ordnance Factory Board

Bomb 250 Kg. HSLD High Speed Low Drag A/C Bomb

Bomb 450 Kg. HSLD High Speed Low Drag Bomb Dropped From MIG/Jaguar

HIGH SPEED LOW DRAG AIRCRAFT BOMBS

Conventional 1000 lb class of aircraft bombs offer more drag, thereby adversely affecting the operational efficiency of modern high speed aircraft. Keeping this in view, DRDO has designed and developed high speed low drag (HSLD) bombs in 450 kg and 250 kg class suitable for carriage and release by modern aircrafts. These bombs are effective against ground targets like railway yards/bridges, major installations, bunkers, runways and hardened targets.

The bomb consists of two major subsystems, namely, bomb body filled with HE and tail unit. Two types of tail units, Retarder Tail Unit (RTU) for high speed low level bombing and Ballistic Tail Unit (BTU) for high speed high altitude bombing have been developed for the bomb to be used in different tactical roles.

The HE filling of the bomb is Dentex (RDX/TNT/Aluminium) for achieving maximum blast and fragmentation effect for inflicting maximum damage to the target. The bomb can be carried on various in-service aircraft like, Jaguar, MiG and futuristic combat aircraft of the the IAF.

The 450 kg HSLD Bomb is already in service and under production at the Ordnance Factories. The 250 kg HSLD Bomb with RTU has been introduced in the Services. BTU has successfully completed flight trials and awaiting introduction into the Services.