In article ,
George Ruch writes:
(B2431) wrote:

From: (Michael Petukhov)
Date: 1/10/2004 11:48 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

RuAF have received first 10 new NEBO-U long range antistealth radars
working in the range of meter's waves.

Meter wavelengths? You mean the same ones com/nav radios use?

He probably does.

The article on the F-117 kill (http://www.aeronautics.ru/f117down.htm)
indicates that the kill was from two SA-6 missiles.

I've got to make a correction, here. The F-117 kill was made by an
SA-3 site. This is important.

But... The inbound tracking was reportedly accomplished by a 1950's vintage
Soviet radar operating in the 165 - 190 cm range (158 - 181 MHZ). Useful
for ground-based early warning, but pretty much useless for fire control
purposes.

Which, BTW, is the normal EW/Air Search radar of the SA-3. Really old
missiles, like the SA-2 and SA-3 have, oddly enough, an advantage when
engaging stealth aircraft. The missiles are Command Guided - all of
the tracking, and all of the smarts required to compute the intercept
and guide the missile, are on the ground. The missile itself is
fairly simple, with an autopilot to keep it pointed right, and a radio
receiver to pick up the steering commands sent from the ground.
The tracking of the target by the fire control system can also be
performed manually, with human operators designating the point that
represents teh target. This makes integrating passive tracking, like
telescopes or TV cameras (Either normal or LLTV) into the system a lot
easier. Humans are also better at picking faint of intermittent
targets out of clutter - it's the way our brains are wired.

With a well-trained crew, a command guided SAM, using a long-wave
radar to let them know that something's there, could pick the airplane
visually, and engage that way. Which is pretty much what happened.

A more advanced system, with high resolution autotracking radars, and,
say, a Semiactive homer in the missiles, isn't going to be able to
have enough time to engage. Stealth doesn't mean that it disappears,
it menas that the detection ranges are much shorter.


--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster