http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #358 JANUARY 2018 // 87
ou might be forgiven for
thinking that A2/AD is the
name of the latest Star
Wars droid. In fact, the acronym
stands for anti-access/area denial.
In simple English it’s a novel way
of saying that a future enemy
might not be such a soft touch as
foes of the past. In fact, A2/AD
is nothing new: bows and arrows,
moats, castle walls have all been
natural evolutions of warfare,
where adversaries have sought
to protect their ‘battlespace’
either through fortification or
longer-range weapons. So why
a new name, and why now?
Well, the Cold War was a period
dominated by A2/AD thinking:
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
and electronic warfare came
to huge prominence in the 40
years after the Second World
War. Fortunately, major conflict
was averted in central Europe.
However, A2/AD wars were
fought by proxy, most notably
in the Arab-Israeli conflicts,
where Soviet missile systems
were pitched against Western
airborne systems. Here the
pendulum swung between
measure and countermeasure,
and systems developed rapidly.
By the end of the 1980s,
Western systems had largely
been developed to counter older
(‘single-digit’, ie SA-1 to SA-9)
Soviet SAM equipment. The wars
of the 1990s and early 2000s
saw Western aircraft detect and
defeat these with relative impunity,
and resulted in conflicts where
air dominance was secured
and exploited quickly. Most
recently, conflicts in Afghanistan
and Syria/Iraq against terrorist
or insurgent entities, none of
whom possess sophisticated
ground-to-air systems, have
meant air superiority was
assured from the outset.The combination of a (falsely)
perceived decreased peer
threat, reducing budgets, and
recent counter-insurgency wars
have led to a marked shortfall
in investment to countering A2/AD. This disinvestment coincided
with a significant increase in
investment and innovation for
A2/AD within China and Russia,
and the subsequent export
of their newer systems.
The advent of digital processors,
arrays and advanced sensors
has transformed the use of the
electromagnetic spectrum to
both detect and defeat traditional
systems, and the increasing range,
accuracy and speed of tactical
missiles has made them more
lethal than ever. Quite simply
(with some notable exceptions) the
‘defence’ is dictating the ‘offence’.
Take the recent situation in Syria,
where Russia’s introduction of
a single modern SAM system
changed the situation overnight.
In one fell swoop, Moscow’s
intervention provided a cloak from
under which the Assad regime
could continue to survive and
function. SAM systems such as
the S-300 and S-400 now pose
a significant threat due to their
high speed, manoeuvrability
and range. Already systems are
being developed and deployed
that profess to be able to counter
stealth aircraft, which themselves
were developed to nullify the
modern missile threat – and
so the struggle continues.
Ultimately, the promotion of A2/“Ultimately, the promotion of A2/AD as a
concept was essentially a marketing ploy,
a wake-up call to the situation that had
developed, with the increasing potential for an
imbalance between attack and defence.”Y
Above: Russia – and before it the Soviet Union – has pioneered the establishment of multi-layered air defence systems,
frequently offering high levels of mobility. This Northern Fleet Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 ‘Greyhound’) represents the recent
expansion of A2/AD into the Arctic. Russian MoD Below: Although its design dates back to the late 1970s, the S-300P
(SA-10 ‘Grumble’) surface-to-air missile system remains one of the most respected foes in the A2/AD domain. It is
widely deployed, has been progressively updated, and this example is seen during the ‘Keys to the Sky’ competition at
the Ashuluk range, Astrakhan region, in 2017. Russian MoDAbove: Borne from the lessons of the Vietnam War, the US Air Force’s Wild Weasel force has fi elded increasingly
capable fi ghters equipped to destroy or degrade enemy air defence systems. The current standard is the F-16CM,
91-0364 being a 77th Fighter Squadron ‘Gamblers’ jet seen at Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Jamie Hunter
Left: The EA-18G Growler represents a bespoke solution for countering the A2/AD threat. The jets, like this example
from the US Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 ‘Dust Devils’, are equipped to ‘knock the door down’ by
locating and targeting hostile air defence systems before engaging them with high-speed missiles. Jamie Hunter