Combat Aircraft – August 2019

18 August 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

S-400 missiles

on the older

S-300PMU

launchers. Known

as the SA-

‘Growler’ in NATO

parlance, this is

arguably the most

formidable SAM

on the planet.

Russian MoD

The S-400 was developed in the 1990s

as an upgrade of the S-300 family. In

service with the Russian armed forces

since 2007, the S-400 has a detection

distance of more than 320 nautical

miles and has four different missiles

at its disposal. The most noteworthy

of the four is the 40N6, which has a

rumored effective engagement range

of approximately 240 nautical miles

and a maximum speed above Mach 10.

With one missile, the probability of kill is

above 80 per cent — with two missiles,

it’s well above 90 per cent!

Simply stated, the SA-21 is immensely

capable and probably the most

lethal surface-to-air missile system

ever designed, guaranteed to cause

consternation in the minds of even the

most well seasoned, hardiest fighter

pilots who could potentially face it

on the battlefield.

According to American

defense experts, the

S-400 poses a significant threat to the

F-35 itself, and the prospect of Turkey

integrating the fifth-generation stealth

aircraft alongside such a system could

provide the Russian military with critical

insight into the Lightning II’s capabilities

— a less-than-desirable prospect.

Turkey has already sent personnel to

Russia for training on the

S-400, which prompted the

call for its removal from

the F-35 program.

Turkish F-35 pilot

training at Luke

AFB was halted in

June. Scott Wolff

16-18 Ops Desk C.indd 18 21/06/2019 11: