FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1979
1979 - 0075.PDF
FLIGHT International, 13 January 1979 Vietnam bombs Cambodian towns AS invading Vietnamese troops ad vance towards Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia (Kampuchea), bombing raids have been carried out against towns and roads in the eastern part of the country. According to Radio Phnom Penh, repeated air attacks are being made against several towns, including Neak Luong, a strategic crossing point on the Mekong River only 30 miles south-east of the capital. Vietnam insists that the invaders are Cambodian rebels rather than its own armed forces, but this seems un likely in view of reports that ex-South Vietnamese F-5s and Chinooks have taken part in the fighting. In a message to UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Ieng Sary claims that Soviet pilots are flying some of the attacking aircraft. These were identi fied as MiG-19s, MiG-21s and "four- engined bombers." Since the only four-engined bombers in Soviet AF service are the Tu-95 Bear and Myasischev M-4 Bison, neither of which have ever been ex ported, the latter part of the Cam bodian claim must be viewed with scepticism. The presence of Soviet aircrew is said to have been detected by monitoring radio transmissions from the hostile aircraft. In their own radio broadcasts Cam bodian rebels claim to have shot down three Kampuchean military aircraft late last month. 73 Royal Air Force Phantoms going grey? BRITISH air-defence Phantoms may soon sport an elegant all-grey colour scheme if current Royal Air Force trials are successful. A single 23 Sqn aircraft has been repainted light grey all over. Standard-size national and squadron markings have been re tained and the radome remains black. The low-visibility scheme, which has been under evaluation at RAF Watti- sham for four weeks, is the only alternative being considered. At present RAF Phantoms are painted dark green and grey, with light-grey undersides. ECM for US cruise missiles THE Soviet Union is expected to have an operational air-defence system cap able of coping with low-altitude bombers and strike aircraft by the early 1980s, A next-generation system capable of countering US cruise mis siles is expected to follow later in the same decade. To restore its advantage in the face of these improvements, the US will install miniaturised elec tronic countermeasures (ECM) in its cruise missiles. Late last year a US aviation journal claimed that the Soviet Union had successfully intercepted a cruise mis sile (see Flight for November 11, 1978, page 1719). This drew immediate denials from the Pentagon and the issue was finally settled late last month at a press conference given by Dr William J. Perry, US Under- Secretary of Defence for Research and Engineering. from Iran Iranian intelligence agencies were said to have ruled out the possibility that Iranian nationals damaged the aircraft: "They are convinced that one or more very capable Soviet specialists, with co-operation from someone inside the base, did it." A Pentagon spokesman also claims that there is no evidence that Soviet reconnaissance aircraft entered Iran ian airspace in late December. Reports in the US press had suggested that ten MiG-25 Foxbats flew more than 600 miles into Iranian territory last month, going as far south as Shiraz. Air shipments to Iran are still con tinuing, say Pentagon officials, though no major items are in the pipeline. Although plans to order a further batch of F-14s and F-16s had to be abandoned due to shortage of funds, the Shah still intends to equip his air force with Boeing E-3A Sentry (Awacs) early-warning aircraft. A successful live-warhead missile firing against a low-level reconnais sance aircraft target did take place in the Soviet Union last year, he told reporters, but the target drone was "about the size of the US T-33 train ing aircraft." The trial took place "at an airfield where MiG-25 Foxbat air craft are stationed," but Dr Perry refused to identify the exact location or date of the test. Perry also de clined to comment when asked whether the US had intercepted and analysed Soviet telemetry signals. Perry claimed that a Soviet Awacs was not used during the shoot-down trial, and said that such a system was in very early development. Until now the US intelligence community has always held that there was no evidence of a Soviet aircraft of this type. Under-Secretary Perry can hardly have been referring to the current Tupolev Moss, since this air craft has been in service for around a decade. The most significant factor in the Soviet experiment was the radar cross-section of the target, said Perry. "The cruise missile has a radar cross- section less than a tenth of a square metre. A reasonable figure is about 0-05m2. The T-33 would have a radar cross-section somewhere between one and ten square metres, so there is a factor of about one hundred difference in the radar cross-section. An attack on drones of this size does not alter in any way our judgements about Soviet capabilities against the type of cruise missiles we have under develop ment." "The important conclusion that we have come to about this whole series of tests, including the tests which used the live warhead, was that none were against a target of the size of a cruise missile. Secondly, it is my belief on the basis of all the information that is available to us, that the radar and the air-to-air missile which they are now developing, does not have the capability of engaging a target as small as a cruise missile." "I have no doubt," continued Dr Perry, "that they are interested in developing such a system and that there is something in the research phase now with that capability. But I believe that will be the next generation beyond the system which is now in test. [It] will require very advanced digital processing and the use of state- of-the-art microprocessors or micro computers, and will require a capa bility of extracting target signals from noise about a factor of 100 or perhaps a factor of 1,000 better than the sys tem now being tested. In engineering terminology that means that they will require about 20 or 301b more clutter- rejection than the system now being tested." These improvements in Soviet air defences have all but nut paid to the manned bomber. The early-1980s sys tem "will be very effective in engag ing a penetrating bomber if they have it deployed in large quantities and if it is successfully tied to their ground- control interceptor," said Dr Perry. When the more advanced anti- cruise missile system becomes opera tional the US will have to install ECM in cruise missiles. "The problem of an electronic countermeasure is provid ing a signal of sufficient power," ex plained Under-Secretary Perry. "Now, masking the size of a bomber (which is 100m3) requires a great deal of power and therefore requires a very large system measured in many kilo watts. On the other hand, masking a target the size of the cruise missile ... means you can get by with one- thousandth the power, and therefore the power required is like a few watts." An ECM technique has not yet been selected, according to Perry, but deception and noise jamming are being studied. The low power levels required should allow the chosen sys tem to be contained in a matchbox- sized package.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
