12-23-2023, 10:28 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/patriot-syste...00481.html
Not new news, posted for reference. The SU-34s were ostensibly dropping guided glide bombs. To get maximum range, the SU-34 would have to get up pretty high. However, the "normal" flight profile over "friendly" territory would be stay low as long as possible, climb to altitude as fast as possible, release the weapons, and then go low as fast as possible. The Patriot, located 100+ km distant, would have to get a lock as the SU-34 climbed to altitude and complete the intercept before the SU-34 was low enough the Patriot could no longer "see" it. This is assuming a PAC-2 missile which is SARH.
If the SU-34 was flown "correctly", it should be almost impossible for a Patriot to shoot it down. It takes a while to go from low to high, but not long at all in the other direction. The radar horizon for a patriot to detect an aircraft at a distance of 100 km is 522 meters, or 1,726 ft. Assume the SU-34 wants to lob it's bombs at 30,000 ft. Supposedly, the SU-34 climes at a rate of 45,275 feet / minute. That is undoubtedly a "clean" aircraft and may be a "marketing" number, but even if it is an exageration, the aircraft should reached altitude in about 37 seconds. The time the aircraft would be visible would be around a minute. The SM-2 goes about 83 km per minute. It would not reach the SU-34 even if it were fired immediately. However, getting a firing "solution" isn't instantaneous and would just add to the time. Obviously, sometimes things go wrong and the jet just doesn't perform or the pilot is slow to release or whatever. All that aside, it would take an umbelieveable performance by the Patriot battery to take down a correctly flown mission.
On top of that, as soon as the Patriot search radar is detected by the aircraft RWR (which should be slightly before the Patriot can detect the SU-34), the pilot should know he could/will be detected and consider his options. One option is to dive away immediately and live to fight another day. Another is to continue with the mission (but be highly motivated to fly it very precisely). When the illuminator is detected, wait 5 seconds or so, then turn on your ECM. The Russians supposedly use DRFMs on the SU-34 to send back a modified (in amplitude) copy of the illuminator signal. At the very least, that will mess up the missile a bit. (If you loose the illuminator, the ECM is smart enough to stop jamming what it can't see) Then, after you drop the bombs and dive, fire off a bunch of chaff to confuse the issue even more. Dive like mad. If the illuminator still holds you after a few seconds, flatten out and find the missile with your own radar. If you can't see it, dive again. If you can see it, begin your missile evasion manuver sequence. Good luck.
So, how did 3 SU-34s get shot down? The missions weren't flown "professionally", first of all. It they had been, it would take a miracle for the Patriot to hit you. More importantly, either the RWR didn't work or the pilot didn't respond appropraitely. If you are in an area where there isn't supposed to be an MPQ-65 and your RWR sees one, I would get out of Dodge. Come back tomorrow when you hsve a plan and are prepared to react to the threat. If you feel you must continue, yell like hell to your buddies and fly like you mean it, because for sure the Patriot will.
Not new news, posted for reference. The SU-34s were ostensibly dropping guided glide bombs. To get maximum range, the SU-34 would have to get up pretty high. However, the "normal" flight profile over "friendly" territory would be stay low as long as possible, climb to altitude as fast as possible, release the weapons, and then go low as fast as possible. The Patriot, located 100+ km distant, would have to get a lock as the SU-34 climbed to altitude and complete the intercept before the SU-34 was low enough the Patriot could no longer "see" it. This is assuming a PAC-2 missile which is SARH.
If the SU-34 was flown "correctly", it should be almost impossible for a Patriot to shoot it down. It takes a while to go from low to high, but not long at all in the other direction. The radar horizon for a patriot to detect an aircraft at a distance of 100 km is 522 meters, or 1,726 ft. Assume the SU-34 wants to lob it's bombs at 30,000 ft. Supposedly, the SU-34 climes at a rate of 45,275 feet / minute. That is undoubtedly a "clean" aircraft and may be a "marketing" number, but even if it is an exageration, the aircraft should reached altitude in about 37 seconds. The time the aircraft would be visible would be around a minute. The SM-2 goes about 83 km per minute. It would not reach the SU-34 even if it were fired immediately. However, getting a firing "solution" isn't instantaneous and would just add to the time. Obviously, sometimes things go wrong and the jet just doesn't perform or the pilot is slow to release or whatever. All that aside, it would take an umbelieveable performance by the Patriot battery to take down a correctly flown mission.
On top of that, as soon as the Patriot search radar is detected by the aircraft RWR (which should be slightly before the Patriot can detect the SU-34), the pilot should know he could/will be detected and consider his options. One option is to dive away immediately and live to fight another day. Another is to continue with the mission (but be highly motivated to fly it very precisely). When the illuminator is detected, wait 5 seconds or so, then turn on your ECM. The Russians supposedly use DRFMs on the SU-34 to send back a modified (in amplitude) copy of the illuminator signal. At the very least, that will mess up the missile a bit. (If you loose the illuminator, the ECM is smart enough to stop jamming what it can't see) Then, after you drop the bombs and dive, fire off a bunch of chaff to confuse the issue even more. Dive like mad. If the illuminator still holds you after a few seconds, flatten out and find the missile with your own radar. If you can't see it, dive again. If you can see it, begin your missile evasion manuver sequence. Good luck.
So, how did 3 SU-34s get shot down? The missions weren't flown "professionally", first of all. It they had been, it would take a miracle for the Patriot to hit you. More importantly, either the RWR didn't work or the pilot didn't respond appropraitely. If you are in an area where there isn't supposed to be an MPQ-65 and your RWR sees one, I would get out of Dodge. Come back tomorrow when you hsve a plan and are prepared to react to the threat. If you feel you must continue, yell like hell to your buddies and fly like you mean it, because for sure the Patriot will.