Media tour to Russia - Part II
(cont’d from Issue 4 Jul/Aug 2021)
Almaz-Antey factory visit
Every once in a while, the world comes across a weapon system that wields a disproportionate amount of strategic and political influence. From HMS Dreadnought to the Shah of Iran and his F-14’s this article chooses to concentrate on a slightly more ‘up to date’ example, the S-400 Triumf.
What is the S-400?
The S- 400 is the most dangerous, operationally deployed, modern longrange Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system in the world. With a maximum effective range of up to 400km (215 nautical miles), the system can reportedly track up to 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously. Additionally the S- 400 reportedly has the capability to counter low- observable aircraft and precisionguided munitions, all while being retaining flexibility and remaining extremely mobile. The S- 400 system, whilst commonly thought of as a single missile-toting truck, is a multi- element system comprising two batteries, each with a command-andcontrol system, one surveillance radar, one engagement radar, and four TEL (Transporter-erector-launcher) trucks.
The S-400 operates in the following way: 1. The Long- range surveillance radar tracks object and relays information to command vehicle for target assessment. 2. After the target is identified, a missile launch is ordered by the command vehicle.
3. The launch vehicle which is placed in the best position gets the launch data and releases the missile.
4. The missile is then guided toward the target with the help of the engagement radar.
This Russian system serves as an excellent example of an anti-access/areadenial (A2/AD) system. The idea of A2/ AD is to prevent an opposing force from entering an area and limit an opposing force’s freedom of action in said operational area. Customer deployments of the S-400 reveal that such systems tend to offer broad strategic effects, while not the first SAM to threaten aircraft hundreds of miles away ( the SA- 5, deployed since 1966, has a range of 150 nautical miles) the S-400’s capabilities render it far more dangerous than a traditional defence-oriented SAM system. With an ability to engage a wide range of targets, including stealth aircraft and cruise missiles, its range against aircraft operating at medium or high altitudes can threaten aircraft in neighbouring countries within their own air space. This capability alone raises the risk of operating expensive aircraft anywhere near a deployed S-400 system. Costing the tax payer a few million dollars, a single missile from an S- 400 battery could potentially bring down an opposing asset worth hundreds of millions of dollars, doing so from farther away than any adversary SAM has yet been capable of. The S-400 thus offers a favourable cost ratio that could potentially influence decisionmaking at strategic levels.
The S-400 system will enable Indian forces to deter or influence the behaviour of aircraft and the application of airpower in peacetime. Russia’s deployment in Syria has already illustrated this possibility.
While Russia showed no intention of using S-400 batteries to engage US or coalition aircraft (except perhaps those belonging to Turkey), air operations planners in the theatre would have likely developed new procedures to guide manned and unmanned aircraft flying within range of the S-400. If Russia chose to do so, it could have effectively neutralised the effectiveness of US, French or NATO aviation based in the Mediterranean. A subsequent coalition turn to standoff munitions significantly increased the per-shot cost, possibly dissuading more vulnerable allies from participating in the US led high-end conflict.
Why am I writing about it?
Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review was invited to be among India’s first few organisations to tour the production facility at Almaz-Antey’s North West production centre and be briefed on the S-400 system. As per the Mikhail Podvyaznikov, Director General of the North West Regional Centre, deliveries of the five regiments of the S-400 Triumf are to begin on schedule as per contract. At the time of writing Indian Air Force personnel are already in Russia, to undergo instruction and train on this brand new system.
As the saying goes, seeing is believing. In order to not just see us off laden with brochures and statistics, North West Regional Centre (NWRC) were keen to show us their sprawling facility, its modern casting and treatment facilities, state of the art test centre and beautifully curated museum.
Take my word as an aerospace engineer that the production of Strategic Ballistic Missile Defence Systems requires extremely rigid quality control and high quality production facilities, sub-orbital physics takes no prisoners! On the territory of NWRC is a galvanic- chemical coating workshop and foundry capable of manufacturing up to 500 tonnes of liquid metal a year. As relatively new production facilities, incorporating an open architecture approach to manufacturing and a high degree of automation, all of these facilities excel in producing not only military, but also dual-use and civilian products.
One of the key highlights of this visit was a demonstration of the S-400 Triumf test centre. With a site for climate testing of large-sized products, replicating a wide range of conditions, temperatures from -70 to +100 degrees Celsius are reproduced in special shielded rooms. The site is also equipped with a sprinkler chamber, particularly important for a customer that sits square in the middle of the annual monsoon’s path. A single ‘TEL’ truck was pre-soaked ahead of our visit and promptly driven out and deployed all in just enough time for Vayu to scramble into position to take pictures. With dust chambers, thermopressure chambers and a whole array of mechanical testing facilities ( centrifuge, shock resistance, vibration, etc.) the author is left in no doubt that Russian weapon systems continue to uphold the Soviet standard for ruggedness.
Our tour ended with us ogling at the NWRC museum, from forging Imperial Russian Naval guns to building and driving
T- 34 tanks straight out of the factory gates and onto the front lines ( barely tens of kilometres away at the height of Nazi power) Almaz-Antey has been at the forefront of their nation’s defence from well before Indian Independence. With exhibits detailing their extensive experience in the field of air defence (a trio of SA-2 ‘Goa’ missiles greet you at the entrance), high-precision machine work (Optical lens manufacturing machinery) and just brute force scale of manufacturing (models of countless artillery pieces and tanks) what struck me as rather poignant, one of their key exhibits is a piece of Gary Power’s U-2 spy plane, brought down by a missile from this very facility.