S300PMU2 by Andrei Pinkov
Tor-M1 by Andrei Pinkov <Kanwa news April 6, 1999> The NATO entered the territorial sky of both Iraq and Yugoslavia without any difficulty. As far as the pure military significance is concerned, can the air force of this strongest military group break through the air-defense systems of both Russia and China as it did during the current air strike on Yugoslavia?
After the beginning the 1990s, a large number of Russian air-defense systems that Iraq and Yugoslavia had never used made their appearances in Russia, including the most advanced S300PMU1, S300PMU2, S300V, S400, BUK-M1, BUK-M2, Tor-M1, Tunguska, and SHILKA systems. Among them, the S300PMU1, S300PMU, TorM-1, and BUK-M1 (the naval version) have already equipped or will soon equip the Chinese army. China has also been trying to enhance the building of its air-defense force since the Gulf War. To this end, China has developed the FM80, FM90, FD2000, FT2000, LY60, KS1, and QW2 air-defense missile systems. All the above-mentioned systems are a generation more advanced in their performances than the air-defense weapons Iraq and Yugoslavia use. Especially, the Russian systems have formed a new fire net that covers the ultra-high altitude, high altitude, middle altitude, low altitude, and minimum low altitude. Thus, the area of air-defense under the coverage of the fire net has increased. For example, the range of the S400 has been extended to 400 kilometers. In the meantime, the detective methods have also been found to be diversified with the new systems. For instance, the Chinese FM90 and the Russian BUK-M1, BUK-M2, and Tor-M1 are all equipped with the TV tracking system and carry the variable-frequency radar that has a strong anti-interference capability. The phased array radar has been used in the S300, S400, FD2000, and TorM1 and it enables the systems to track and attack several targets at the same time. In addition, the Tor-M1 also possesses the capability of launching a head-on attack on the cruise missiles that travel at a low altitude.
While proposing the air-defense theory of taking the control of the territorial sky with the ground-to-air missiles as the major weapon (Yi Di Zhi Kong), the Chinese military theorists emphasized strengthening their air force. Now the Chinese air force has been equipped with the different kinds of detective systems, including the IRST system that is installed on the Su27. On the other hand, the stealth fighter planes and bombers may have found it easy to escape unnoticed soon after they fulfilled their bombing missions in such small and narrow countries as Iraq and Serbia. However, in such large countries as China and Russia, each of which has a vast expanse of territory, things will be different. In the time of war, they will put more planes on patrol, use the AWACS, and resort to various detective methods. Major General F. Ilyushin, the first chief test pilot of the Su27 and a two-time winner of the "Soviet Hero", indicated to the KWIC reporter, "Once caught by my students with their Su27s, the US stealth attack planes can be easily destroyed only by the guns on the Su27s". Andrei Pinkov Kanwa news)
