INDUCTION OF LY–80 LOMADS IN PAKISTAN ARMY AIR DEFENCE: LEAP TOWARDS RANGE AND LETHALITY

[Gryphon]

Maj Adnan Alam Satti

Pakistan Army Air Defence is undergoing regime transformation with induction of long range weapon systems on its inventory. In this context, first combat unit of LY-80 Low to Medium Altitude Air Defence System (LOMADS) has arrived Pakistan in January 2017. This Chinese origin weapon system is capable of tracking and intercepting multiple targets including Fighter Aircraft, Cruise Missiles, Air to Ground Missiles, Anti-Radiation Missiles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Armed Helicopters at longer ranges.

The weapon system has excellent electronic counter measures and high kill probability. The system is fully capable of providing low to medium altitude area air defence to national and strategic assets, field formations and maneuvering forces. Digitized Surveillance Control and Reporting node has also been configured in LY-80 LOMADS for its complete integration with Air Defence System of Pakistan.

Procurement of LY-80 weapon system necessitated training of troops of Army Air Defence for its dexterous employment. The training was organized at Shanghai China, wherein officers and soldiers of Army Air Defence acquired knowledge of operating, deploying and maintaining the weapon system. After comprehensive training by the Chinese experts, the trained air defenders are fully ready to exploit the true capabilities of LY-80 LOMADS against wide spectrum of aerial threat at all times. 

Induction of LY-80 LOMADS is indeed beginning of a new era in Army Air Defence. It has strengthened the Sky Shield of Pakistan and enhanced the capabilities of Army Air Defence manifold. Availability of LY-80 LOMADS would add to deterrence against an intruder aerial platform due to its range, lethality and accuracy.

INDUCTION OF LY–80 LOMADS IN PAKISTAN ARMY AIR DEFENCE: LEAP TOWARDS RANGE AND LETHALITY | Hilal ISPR Magazine

 

[YeBeWarned]

@The Deterrent @Penguin @gambit sorry for a bit stupid question but Can a Missile fired from a SAM be re-directed in mid Air to a different target from what its initially locked on ?

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

The arrival of LY-80 and FM-90 has certainly made great contribution towards providing "PAKISTAN SHEILD" the necessary tools to become more effective

Gives Pakistan the necessary reach in the sky

 

[nomi007]

hope range is more than 120km

 

[Sully3]

Chinese call this the Rafael killer

also I'm hoping it performs better then the s400 who couldn't even intercept 50 odd Tomahawks missiles. interestingly the babur is a copy of a tomahawk as well.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Quite an imposing sight to see the systems moving into position

 

[Path-Finder]

Chinese call this the Rafael killer

also I'm hoping it performs better then the s400 who couldn't even intercept 50 odd Tomahawks missiles. interestingly the babur is a copy of a tomahawk as well.

Not strictly True. S400 is there to defend the air base in Latakia ONLY! secondly 59 cruise missiles would need at least 20 batteries or more. the path the cruise missiles followed was just so that they would avoid detection plus firing 59 so most make it to their target. Now question is did all 59 hit the target?

 

[syed_yusuf]

what is the range of LY-80 in PA service. is it 40KM or 70Km

 

[Gryphon]

what is the range of LY-80 in PA service. is it 40KM or 70Km

40 km.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

"Pakistan Sheild"
A valueable piece of the bigger Plan
LY-80​

 

[Penguin]

@The Deterrent @Penguin @gambit sorry for a bit stupid question but Can a Missile fired from a SAM be re-directed in mid Air to a different target from what its initially locked on ?

I doubt it i.e. not that I'm aware of. But one has to be more specific about what kind of Surface to Air Missile, as they can have different methods of guidance (Command to Line Of Sight, Laser-beam Riding, Infrared homing, RF-homing, Semi-active or Active Radar homing, or a combination). Only with the homing varieties of guidance, the missile itself acquires the target. In the other methods, it is the ground guidance / target designation system (radar and/or electro-optical) that maintains 'lock' on a target. It is because of this that e.g. semi-active radar homing surface to air missiles can be used against surface threat (you simply illuminate the surface target rather than an air target, and the missile will go where it receives radar 'echo' from). The whole idea / point of a 'fire and forget'-missile (IRH, RFH, ARH) is that once the missile 'locks on' to the intended target, it becomes autonomous, needing no further external assistance. Which implies no further possibility for retargeting. To the extent possible, retargeting would probably also lead to a sub-optimal flight profile for the missile and thereby shorten its effective range.

In flight retargeting is possible for some anti-surface missiles.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...-flight-retargeting-capability-914315098.html

However: " While datalinks offer potential for retargeting a cruise missile in flight, they increase the vulnerability of the weapon, and will be jammed by the defending side, while the availability of penetrating ISR capability to support such retargeting remains problematic."
http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2009-02.html

 

[POPEYE-Sailor]

can any one give me answer or link ?

When Pakistan signed this deal LY-80 SAM and A-100 MRL ???

 

[JK!]

March 2015 National military parade Pakistan includes FM 90 low level SAM system.

March 2017 National military parade included LY-80 low/medium level SAM.

I wonder (more like hope!) what the March 2019 parade might include..............if it's a trend in the SAM capability I certainly welcome it!!!!

 

[gambit]

@The Deterrent @Penguin @gambit sorry for a bit stupid question but Can a Missile fired from a SAM be re-directed in mid Air to a different target from what its initially locked on ?

In theory, yes. But then again, anything is possible 'in theory'. Mr. Penguin explained it well enough in no. 11 .

But I will add with this: Why would you want or need to ?

This is a philosophical question. A long time ago in a US state far far away from where I am now, I had a senior Raytheon radar engineer for a mentor and this guy was big into the philosophical foundations of everything we do. He taught me how to think backwards -- forensically.

So for your question, we would have to ask 'Why would you want or need to ?' or better yet 'Why should you ?'

If you designed something to do X, there has to be a reason why you did it that way. Why you do something is motivated by your goal, situation, predicament, environment, resources, time, and consequence. The more you critically analyze each item and how it relate to the others, the more assured you will be of your final decision and that you made the appropriate decision.

Prior to missile release, a decision must have already been made about the target and the decision maker is the human. The human basically said: 'I want this thing destroyed.' So now the next question is: 'Should you allow any deviation from this decision ?'

If you answer to yourself 'No', then you will design your missile to be without the capability to change its target focus. Your missile will be simpler in design and manufacturing.

If you answer 'Yes', meaning you want to the option of deviation, now your missile must have more fuel because there is no way for you to know when you will need redirection. More fuel means the missile will be physically larger which may affect carriage, as in you may have to carry on the wing instead of fuselage.

Maybe you want a 'point of no return', meaning after launch and the missile is on the way, once the missile reached a certain distance threshold from the target, no deviation is allowed. So now you must design in interlock switches. For example, one interlock would be calculating the distance between launch point and target, then you must design a calculated halfway point of that distance where no re-targeting command is allowed.

As you can infer, a deviation or re-targeting allowance opened a can of technical worms making the missile more complex in many ways. The return on investment (ROI) is simply not there. So while it technically feasible to do so, it is not practical to do so.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

Why didn't we induct LY-80 B with 70 KM range?? Or we plans to induct it