Iran-Russia naval drills enhance coordination; Russia and China strengthen Iran’s integrated air defenses, creating potential surprises and risks for US forces.

Snip:

Krapivnik detailed Russian contributions, noting the delivery of aircraft and reestablishment of Iran’s air defense networks.

“Russia came back, built a reintegrated system, and over the last six months trained up Su-35 pilots and delivered Su-35 fighters — which outrange, by the way, the F-35s, even though it’s a generation 4++ fighter versus the generation 5 fighter that the F-35 represents.”

Chinese contributions, he explained, include high-resolution radar and satellite-linked early warning systems.

“The Chinese are bringing in their integrated radar systems, which include very tight-beamed, low-wavelength sections that can pick up — integrated with the satellite systems — anything within, I think, 500 to 600 kilometers outside of Iran. So anything that the US or Israel is launching is already being picked up and gives them enough time to start reacting to it.”

  • tactical_trans_karen [she/her, comrade/them]
    ·
    8 days ago

    He cited historical examples of successful radar-guided defense: “Which is, by the way, how the Serbs took out several American aircraft — B-1s. They put circles around of people with radios, and they visually saw them coming in because they kept using the same flight corridor. ‘Because they’re invisible.’ Well, no, they’re not. With the radios that communicated back, they got taken out with an S-300 or an S-200 system because they were able to lock on to them almost point blank.”

    Gee wiz, the stuff you don't hear about in the news. I do firmly believe US forces are going to get humbled in a major way, and I believed this before these upgrades. I hope Trump just does his usual bravado and claims victory... But if they go at Iran, I think it'll result in the rapid decline of the US hegemon.

    • MarmiteLover123 [comrade/them, any]
      ·
      7 days ago

      Gee wiz, the stuff you don't hear about in the news.

      Because it never happened. No B-1B bombers have been lost in combat. The whole article is an elaborate work of fiction. To actually explain why it's all wrong would require hours of writing because of the sheer amount factually incorrect statements.

      What the "analysist" is trying to explain is that an F-117 stealth aircraft was shot down over Serbia by an S-125/SA-3 surface to air missile system. For context the F-117 didn't even have a functional radio antenna on missions, no radar, no radar warning receiver, no electronic countermeasures/jamming, no air to air ability. The F-117 was essentially a manned reusable "stealth cruise missile" that relied completely on other aircraft for escort and support, and flew in and out on a pre planned flight path, a vulnerability that could be exploited if you knew the flight path. Which is how the Serbs shot it down, and what this guy is trying to explain. Modern 5th generation stealth aircraft like the F-35 are completely different to the F-117, full of advanced sensors and equipment, designed to geolocate hostile radars/emitters, jam them and employ weapons on them. And obviously a functional radar, and now very advanced datalink. Far, far superior to the F-117, which had none of that. Another important factor is the number of aircraft, only 59 combat capable F-117s were ever built. The US and Israel have over 100 5th generation stealth fighters in the Middle East or on their way to the Middle East, 90 F-35s and 12 F-22s. There is no historical parallel for what such a force is capable of if used fully. The capabilities and number of stealth planes are far greater than anything which has ever been employed previously.

      And this is just one point on the article.