In article ,
Scott Ferrin wrote:

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:29:36 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

You have to remember that the SAM-20 tops out at about 4600 MPH, about a
third faster than the SR-71, which makes it a *lot* easier to spoof the
missile's radar, and doesn't give it enough of a speed advantage to make
a strong chance of catching a Mach-3+ aircraft from behind.

Why the fixation of hitting the aircraft from behind?

Because about half of all engagements with long-range missiles happen
from the rear aspect, or from the side (which can be worse in some
cases). Very few aircraft drivers are going to run right down the
throat of a radar when they can sit off to one side and make the missile
work harder. Even with a very long range (400 kilometer) SAM, you have
to have about a 50% overlap with the systems on either side to make sure
you have good coverage, or the penetrating aircraft will just look at
signal strengths on their RWR and drive in between, forcing that
long-range tail chase (or avoiding your engagement ranges altogether).
Even at 7200 KPH, you're looking at a delay of a couple of minutes to
get out to a couple of hundred klicks, which can be a problem when the
target is doing 2/3 of that speed, jamming madly.

Most countries have no chance of affording to cover their entire border
with high-speed, high-altitude, long-range missile sites, especially
places like the former Soviet Union. Sure, you could ring your major
cities with them, but even that's too expensive in the long run. Even
putting one next to each major military target gets pretty darned
expensive.

....and if you do, and you turn those radars on at any time, you get
"tagged" for later attention, which is death on the modern battlefield.
Big radars and fast missiles are great in some cases, but they're easy
targets. They move slowly and they're easy to kill.

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.