Could Russia Shoot Down an F-22 Stealth Fighter Over Syria?
The Kremlin deploys advanced anti-aircraft missiles
by DAVE MAJUMDAR
As tensions between Washington and Moscow flare, the Russian military is warning the United States that it has the ability to target stealth aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and B-2 Spirit that might be operating over Syria with the Almaz-Antey S-400 and the recently arrived S-300V4 air and missile defense systems.
However, Western defense officials and analysts are skeptical and note that both the F-22 and the F-35 were specifically designed to counter those Russian-developed weapons.
“Russian S-300, S-400 air defense systems deployed in Syria’s Hmeymim and Tartus have combat ranges that may surprise any unidentified airborne targets,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told the Russian state media outlet Sputnik.
“Operators of Russian air defense systems won’t have time to identify the origin of air strikes, and the response will be immediate. Any illusions about ‘invisible’ jets will inevitably be crushed by disappointing reality.”
While Moscow makes bold claims about the counter-stealth capabilities of its S-400 and S-300V4 missiles, the fact remains that even if Russian low-frequency search and acquisition radars can detect and track tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft such as the F-22 or F-35, fire control radars operating in C, X and Ku bands cannot paint low observable jets except at very close ranges.
Stealth is not — and never has been — invisibility, but it does offer greatly delayed detection so that a fighter or bomber and can engage a target and leave before the enemy has time to react.
For sure, tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft must be optimized to defeat higher-frequency bands such the C, X and Ku bands — that’s just a simple matter of physics. There is a “step change” in an L.O. aircraft’s signature once the frequency wavelength exceeds a certain threshold and causes a resonant effect.
Typically, that resonance occurs when a feature on an aircraft — such as a tail-fin or similar — is less than eight times the size of a particular frequency wavelength.
As a result, fighter-sized stealth aircraft that do not have the size or weight allowances for two feet or more of radar absorbent material coatings on every surface are forced to make trades as to which frequency bands they are optimized for.
In short, this means that radars operating at a lower frequency band, such as parts of the S or L band, are able to detect and track certain stealth aircraft...
Low frequency radars can also “cue” fire control radars to a target. Additionally, some U.S. adversaries have started developing targeting radars that operate at lower frequencies. But those lower frequency fire-control radars exist only in theory — and are a long way off from being fielded...
However, low-frequency radars do not themselves provide a “weapons quality” track that is needed to guide a missile onto a target. There are various proposed techniques to use low frequency radars for such purposes, but none of those are likely to prove viable...
https://warisboring.com/could-russia-shoot-down-an-f-22-stealth-fighter-over-syria-2ca2bb80791c#.jdsxy4med
