News: Whatever happened to "loose lips sink ships"?

[carebear]

There's nothing new or exciting about the Sunburn or its technology, all the major powers experimented with ramjet powered missles at one time or another. It was originally designed back in the '80s, the things been known to the Navy, including all its strengths and weaknesses, for years. In addition to not actually being "unstoppable" it has a short range. In the Gulf that's more of a problem but rest assured the Navy is on top of it.

The AEGIS-killer myth
The SS-N-22 has a semi-deserved reputation as being an uninterceptible superweapon. This is because it is a sea-skimming missile, which makes it hard to detect until rather close range, and it is supersonic, which shortens an adversary's reaction time. It was, in fact, designed to counter the USA's AEGIS combat system and other systems like it - but in practice, it's only slightly harder to intercept. First, it flies at a much higher altitude than most other sea-skimming missiles, about 60 meters rather than the 5-10 meters that missiles like Harpoon, Tomahawk, Exocet, Penguin and Kormoran fly at. Second, although it pulls random evasive maneuvers during its final attack stage, it is still a large target with a huge RF and infrared signature. In tests, numerous air defense weapons including the AMRAAM, Standard, Evolved Sea Sparrow, Aster 30, SA-N-6 Grumble, SA-N-9 Gauntlet and Rolling Airframe Missile have intercepted either live SS-N-22 missiles, or drones replicating their performance. Its high speed does make gun-based CIWS like Phalanx and AK-630 decidedly less useful, however. In short, while dangerous, the Sunburn is not quite the AEGIS-killer that popular myth makes it out to be.

It is carried aboard Sovremenny class destroyers and Tarantul III missile boats as well as the single Udaloy II class destroyer, and can be launched by Su-27 Flanker fighter/attack planes. Russia and China have the surface and air-launched versions of this missile, while the land-launched variants have been exported to India and Iran as well. Iraq was rumored to have purchased some of these, but no evidence of that has come to light.

Pretty much the mass media is waaaaay behind the times on modern military tech. Everyone who actually matters has known the info by the time the alarmist press gets wind of it.

Standard "sky is falling" defeatist tripe.

Oops, had to update the post.

Apparently the Sizzler SS-N-27 is a Sunburn that doesn't go supersonic the whole way in, only at the last, conserving fuel and increasing the range.

Still the threat is that there is less time for Aegis to engage at close range, not that it absolutely can't, especially several hundred kilometers out, pre-separation, with Standards and Sparrows. US Navy doctrine remains to intercept the missiles far off from the fleet if launched and kill the delivery system to prevent (further) launches. Given the range restrictions on the missile, once the sky over Iran (for example) has been cleared of enemy aircraft (an actual inevitability) the key will be defeating the small mobile launchers (torpedo boats? trucks?) as the fixed sites will be identified and won't survive the first salvo.

Consider the only threat zones noted are in areas where the fleet is required to go near shore, like a defense of Taiwan or ops in the Gulf.

 

[carebear]

I suggest anyone truly alarmed by this kind of reporting read what was originally written about the M-1 Abrams (it was incapable of facing up to the Sov. T-72 and was crippled by poor fuel economy) the M-2 Bradley (ditto) and almost any major weapons system developed since Vietnam.

Contrariwise, read the contemporary press clippings for the Mig-29, the T-80 with its 130mm gun and the Hind-D "flying tank". All were described as more than a match for anything the West could field, yet in every confrontation they came up second best.

Our press loves to predict disaster and failure for US systems and tech because it gets attention and ratings, their stuff gets played up and ours is downplayed. What gets left out is what superior training and doctrine can do, even against theoretical advantages in technology. That tends to be our big advantage.

I find it hard to believe Sizzler will be an "unstoppable" threat very long, that is, if it actually is already.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'd talk more about Project Sunfire, though I've already said too much.

 

[Diamondback]

Nice writeup, Mr. Carberry. You've got talent! On the other hand, you're playing MY game now, and...

"It'll take a lot more than just tactical tricks to beat ME!"

I predict that once we get ABL tech navalized, Sizzler will actually be more like Fizzler. It's just a matter of getting a powerful enough laser to heat the missile until the fuel or warhead kB!'s...

Something to watch out for, yes. To be wary of, certainly. To start panicking over... Well, not really.

 

[carebear]

Nice writeup, Mr. Carberry. You've got talent! On the other hand, you're playing MY game now, and...

"It'll take a lot more than just tactical tricks to beat ME!"

I predict that once we get ABL tech navalized, Sizzler will actually be more like Fizzler. It's just a matter of getting a powerful enough laser to heat the missile until the fuel or warhead kB!'s...

Something to watch out for, yes. To be wary of, certainly. To start panicking over... Well, not really.

Yep, with a nuke plant onboard for power a ship is really the best platform for a laser right now. The test's with the 747 mounted one are working out well so far.

Besides, the REAL "unstoppable threat" is super-cavitating torpedos.

 

[Diamondback]

Yep, with a nuke plant onboard for power a ship is really the best platform for a laser right now. The test's with the 747 mounted one are working out well so far.

I have connections inside the Big B, so I'm a little more plugged-in on ABL than most. If this works, and I'm highly confident it will:

"It's a whole new age of warfare... and it's coming right to your doorstep."

It's been really exciting seeing this project go through development. Wish I coulda crashed the rollout party like I do with Boeing Commercial's...