Russia’s defense steps up in aerospace missiles

[indian_foxhound]

After shutting down production of the S-300
missile defense system, Russia is moving to
equip its new S-400 and S-500 systems with
hypersonic missiles. A shortage of more
advanced missiles, however, stands in the way
of the Ministry of Defense’s plans. Russia is planning to open two major plants to
produce much-needed advanced hypersonic
missiles, but experts suggest that the country
will be unable to counter a massive NATO attack
for the next 10 years. By 2014, Russia will launch two major plants to
produce the 77N6-N and 77N6-N1 hypersonic
missiles for its state-of-the-art anti-missile
defense systems – S-400 “Triumph” and S-500
“Prometheus.” The Ministry of Defense has officially announced
that, “with these missiles, surface-to-air missile
systems will be able to bring down any target
flying at a speed of up to 7 kilometers per
second, including nuclear warheads of ballistic
missiles.” The S-500 system has yet to be completed, while
its S-400 predecessor can currently launch the
older 48N6 and 9M96 missiles. The 77N6-N and 77N6-N1 models will be the first
Russian missiles with inert warheads, which can
destroy nuclear warheads by force of impact (i.e.,
by hitting them with precision at great speed).
No explosives are needed: engineers’ estimates
show that a collision at a speed of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) per second would be sure to destroy
just about any flying object. The new plants are vital for the development of
an anti-missile shield above Russia, since new
surface-to-air systems are already entering
service unequipped with new missiles.
For now, the “Triumph” (S-400) defense system
is complete with missiles that have been left over from the old S-300 systems. Their range is
around 124 miles, whereas the S-400s are
designed to intercept targets at a distance of
about 250 miles.
The absence of more advanced missiles stands in
the way of fully equipping Russia’s Air Forces and Aerospace Defense Forces with the S-400
systems. Only seven divisions have been
supplied with such systems since 2007, with
another 49 waiting to receive them, according to
official data.
The missile shortage became even worse after production of the old S-300 systems was halted
completely.
“The last S-300 was produced for the Russian
army in 1994 or so,” says Igor Ashurbeili, co-
chairman of an expert council on aerospace
defense and former chief designer at the Russian defense company Almaz-Antey. “Since then,
Russia has only produced these systems for sale.
But now even export orders for the S-300s have
been suspended.”
Indeed, Moscow turned down a contract with
Iran back in 2010, losing $800 million. Production was completely shut down after rolling out the
last S-300 division intended for export, which is
to be supplied to Algeria soon. One of the
problems faced by the Russian defense industry
is that it stopped accepting orders for the S-300s,
but has not started to take orders for the S-400s, says Ashurbeili.
The design of S-400 missiles has not been
completed either. The system should be fully
compatible with short-, medium- and long-range
missiles. Presently, however, only short-range
missiles intended for hitting targets within 95 miles have been designed without problems.
Medium-range missiles (up to 155 miles) are still
“raw,” and their design needs to be finalized. The long-range missiles are non-existent, even
though such a missile would be a serious
hindrance to potential enemy vehicles, including
Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS).
Without these missiles, the S-400 cannot fulfill its
purpose – engaging targets at a long range. As for the future S-500 system, it will be an S-400
with long-range missiles, according to
Alexanderf Khramchikhin, deputy director of the
Institute for Political and Military Analysis. “The S-500s will at best be created in 2020 – no
earlier. At present, and for the next 10 years, the
chances of countering a massive NATO attack are
very low: it takes a long time to recharge the
S-300s, so, in the best case, they will only repel
the first wave of an assault, which would be 100 to 200 targets,” says Khramchikhin. Military expert Vladislav Shurygin agrees with
Khramchikhin. “For now, the S-500 is an
ephemeral dream, and no one knows if it will
ever come true,” he said.
Even though the S-300s need to be replaced,
there is simply no replacement for them. This is why Almaz-Antey is faced with some very
important tasks. “Handling them will determine
the future not only of the anti-missile defense
system, but also of the country as a whole,” says
Shurygin. The company is still capable of
manufacturing high-quality products, but it needs to modernize its technologies and
refurbish its production facilities quickly. In other words, the production of modern
aerospace defense weaponry is a
comprehensive task which requires major
technological innovations and modernization of
existing production facilities.

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