Page 45 - Military Technology 12/2018

Features MT 12/2018 · 43

very low altitudes. The aircraft of the aviation group targeted terrorists` Kamov range) 3+-generation NVG, produced by JSC NPO Geofizika-NV.
positions, C2 posts, plants and workshops, large ammunition depots, The use of the ONV-1 SKOSOK was prohibited after the investigation.
hardware and fuel, communications hubs, training camps and other items Russian UAVs made more than 25,000 sorties and detected 47,522 ene-
of infrastructure. According to official information, the size of the VKS con- my targets. Up to 70 FORPOST, ORLAN-10 and other platforms were used
tingent in Syria did not exceed 35 aircraft. in Syria on a daily basis. During the last months of the counter-terror oper-
Russian pilots initially conducted nearly 20 combat sorties per day, but ation, operational tempo exceeded 1,000 sorties per month, while average
this number started to grow. The operational use of the aircraft was based flight time was in excess of five hours.
on intelligence derived from space and aerial reconnaissance. The aircraft
flew at altitudes over 5,000 m to avoid man-portable air defence systems Naval Aviation Joins the Fray
(MANPADS), while the onboard targeting and navigation systems ensured
high accuracy for the air strikes. Surface combatants of the Russian Navy (VMF) launched 100 tactical air
It can therefore be stated with some confidence that VKS aircraft made strikes, striking their targets with 3M-14 KALIBR (SS-N-27 SIZZLER) sea-
a decisive contribution to the operational objective of eliminating IS. UAVs launched cruise missiles. During the operation, the VMF conducted 189
provided reconnaissance information to Russian troops and advancing cruises, in which 86 surface combatants, 14 submarines and 83 support
Syrian governmental forces. The Ka-52, Mi-28N and Mi-35M attack heli- vessels were involved. The Project 11435 ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV-class
copters destroyed enemy tanks, armoured vehicles and technicians armed heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser debuted in combat. Between 15 November
with heavy machineguns. The Su-34 and Su-24M aircraft bombed armour, 2016 to 6 January 2017, Naval Aviation pilots conducted 420 combat sor-
strongholds, manpower concentration areas and terrorist command posts. ties (including 117 at night) in harsh weather conditions, resulting in the
The Su-35S, Su-30SM and Su-27SM3 multirole combat aircraft covered destruction of 1,252 terrorist targets, including items of infrastructure,
the strike forces, while multilayered air defence at the Humaymim airbase manpower and vehicle concentration areas, battlefield positions and
also contributed to the success of the Russian Aerospace Forces. strongholds. The Northern Fleet’s air wing therefore achieved destruction
The Su-25s and Su-24Ms conducted 50% of the strike sorties against of almost 2.4 targets per sortie – the equivalent to the VKS’ level of combat
terrorist targets. The 4 generation Su-34 conducted air strikes against activity. Each aircraft of the ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV air wing made nearly
th
both frontline and deep rear area targets with high accuracy, striking with 30 sorties.
KAB-500 guided bombs and the Kh-29L AS-14 KEDGE-A air-to-surface It is worth noting that that range of the Naval Aviation platforms al-
missiles fitted with laser guidance. lowed in-depth air strikes to be mounted, normally in pairs or small for-
The Su-35S FLANKER-E+ also saw its combat debut during opera- mations since alpha strike-type efforts were not required. The aircraft used
tions in Syria, using guided bombs and missiles. The KAB-500Kr guided high-precision weapons, including Kh-29 and Kh-25 air-to-surface mis-
bomb, fitted with a passive seeker, demonstrated highly accurate perfor- siles and KAB-500Kr and KAB-500L guided bombs: they also carried up to
mance and the aircraft also made use of Kh-29TD AS-14 KEDGE-B air- 4-5t of non-guided munitions, including rockets (the S-8 80 mm in 20-cell
to-surface missiles and Kh-35U AS-20 KAYAK anti-ship missiles modified pods, the S-13 122 mm in five-cell pods and the S-25 266 mm) and 100-
to engage ground targets. The aircraft’s maximum payload reached 8t 500 kg freefall bombs.
and the Su-35S also provided EW coverage to other platforms, using the
KHIBINY EW system. Logistics Support, Testing and Casualties
The Ka-52 HOKUM-B and Mi-28N HAVOC combat helicopters were
widely used to engage enemy tanks, armoured vehicles and manpower, Russia`s logistics support assets conducted 424 sea passages and
conduct aerial reconnaissance and secure take-offs and landings of fixed- 2,785 air passages, transporting 3,250 servicemen, 4,501 items of military
wing aircraft from Humaymim airbase. The rotary-wing platforms operated hardware, 1,559,000 t of cargo and 91,285 servicemen, more than 1,000
under visual and harsh weather conditions ,by day and night and in pairs weapon systems and 55,846 t of cargo respectively.
with night vision googles. The ATAKA-1 AT-9 SPIRAL-2 and VIKHR-1 AT-16 The Russian military tested 231 brand-new and upgraded items of
SCALLION anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and the IGLA guided missile military hardware, including 68 aerospace, 18 naval, 48 land and 97 ‘other
were successfully used in combat. and special’ systems.
Modern Avionics and Weapons Tested Losses of Russian military aviation during counter-terror
Digital maps were integrated with the helicopters’ onboard systems, operation in Syria
and automatic flight mission data input also. The signal suites ensured
the use of secure communications, including in situations working with Date Type Cause
a forward air controller. The onboard self-defence suites integrated with 24.11.2015 Su-24M Lost in action
the Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters alerted aircrews when the aircraft were 24.11.2015 Mi-8AMTSh Lost in action
radar or laser illumination from landbased, seaborne or airborne weapons 12.04.2016 Mi-28N Crash
platforms, and effectively suppressed infrared MANPADS.
The newest air-launched weapons were successfully tested in Syria; 08.07.2016 Mi-35M Lost in action
however, legacy bombs also showed fine performance. The VKS used 01.08.2016 Mi-8AMTSh Lost in action
guided bombs widely to destroy terrorist targets. The newest guided aerial 03.11.2016 Mi-35M Lost in action
bombs are fitted with satellite navigation, particularly the KAB-500S-Eh: 13.11.2016 MiG-29K Crash
the laser-guided ‘smart bombs’ such as the KAB-1500LG-F-Eh, have
also generated interest. The VKS is also reported to have used the 03.12.2016 Su-33 Crash
KAB-500 guided bombs to strike IS infrastructure in Syria. According 06.10.2017 Mi-28N Crash
to Russian media outlets, the aircraft also carried air-launched weapons 10.10.2017 Su-24M Crash
fitted with laser and TV guidance systems, including the Kh-25ML AS- 31.12.2017 Mi-24P Crash
10 KAREN and Kh-29L air-to-surface missiles and the KAB-500OD and
KAB-1500 guided bombs. In June, an Su-27SM3 armed with the RVV- 03.02.2018 Su-25SM Lost in action
SD medium-range air-to-air missile was demonstrated to President of the 06.03.2018 An-26 Crash
Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad ,during his visit to the Humaymim 17.09.2018 Il-20M Lost in action
airbase. The helicopters of VKS also used the SHTURM AT-6 SPIRAL
ATGM to strike ground targets. The fixed-wing aircraft are reported to have
used a wide range of free-fall high-explosive bombs, including the BETAB- During operations in Syria, the armed forces had suffered some losses,
500Sh, FAB-500M-62, FAB-500M-54, OFAB-250-270 and OFAB-100-120. which were not disclosed by the MoD. However, 91 servicemen are known
Shortcomings revealed during the use of various systems have been to have been killed, excluding the victims of the crash of a Tu-154M
fixed. On 12 April 2016 an Mi-28N attack helicopter crashed during a night CARELESS airliner on 25 December 2016. The Russian military lost a total
flight, killing both pilots. According to the MoD, the crew lost spatial orien- of seven fixed-wing and seven rotary-wing platforms. However, a com-
tation. The pilots were using the ageing ONV-1 SKOSOK night vision gog- parative analysis of the results of the Russian pilots and the pilots of the
gles (NVG), which fall short of the performance of the more modern GEO- US-led international coalition shows that the Russian air group conducted
ONV1-01M (for the Mil family of helicopters) and GEO-ONV01-01K (for the three times more combat sorties and four times more air strikes.