Washington: The USA is working on a classified plan to shoot down enemy cruise missiles especially from Third World countries, using a combination of airbome infrared sensors, improved sensitivity radars and fighter aircraft, according to a defence weekly.
‘The latest plan links US ground and air based sensors, air force and navy interceptor aircraft, rapid data transfer and specially modified air to air missiles into a high-tech h net to snag incoming cruse missiles, it says.
Quoting a classified report with Pentagon, Aviation Week and Space Technology predicts that soon after the year 2000, China Iran and Syria will all have operational cruise missiles with low observable characteristics such as diffused and downward pointing exhausts and reduced radar cross sections capable of flight at low altitude.
In addition to conventional high explosive. These missiles will have chemical and biological warheads. However, the report says China will have nuclear warheads for its cruise missiles.
China already has sold hundreds of Silkworm missiles to foreign countries.
According to the classified plan the first choice is to destroy ships, air craft or ground sites before they can launch cruise weapons. But knowing the hard to detect missiles can pop up almost anywhere, they have prepared for a deep battle with layered defences.
Pentagon planners believe the strategic defense initiative organization has erred by focusing on ballistic missiles defences.
Defence experts say the problem of detecting a large numbers of subsonic, ground hugging, low Observable cruise missiles is considered more difficult than a ballistic missile attack.
Cruise missiles are easier and cheaper to build than ballistic missiles and their routes are less predictable than a ballistic missile’s trajectory and they are easier 10 hide and launch, they say.
The weekly says the initial line of defence will be preemptive attacks against cruise missile launchers. For this, intelligence should be provided of an enemy’s intentions, launch sites and targets.
Once in the air, cruise missiles will have to be intercepted by patrolling US aircraft. Since there are too few aircraft to patrol everywhere, they will guard the most vulnerable and highest priority targets such as pons and command and control centers.
The final element of the defence plan is to rely on combining airborne infrared and radar sensors to spot the heat trails and movement against the earth’s background of low observable cruise missiles, In the initial phase it says, very discriminating air-to-air missiles will have to pick the cruise missiles out of ground clutter, lock on and destroy the target rapidly.
The defence planners have identified the F15, F/A18 and F14 fighters for the cruise missile hunting role as they already have lookdown, shoot down radars, the weekly says. However, their capability could be increased with the addition of a staring focal plane array Secker, which gives a television quality infrared picture.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 21, 1993
