MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. The Russian doctrine of a layered air defense system is more effective in countering modern threats than the Western doctrine, which relies on aviation and long-range systems, according to a report by the Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) published by National Defense magazine and obtained by TASS.
According to the experts, this thesis is practically confirmed by an analysis of hostilities in the Middle East. The authors note that the results of air battles in February and March of this year help to better define the tasks facing air defense systems of various classes.
"The role of short-range SAMs (surface-to-air missile systems - TASS) is growing proportionally to the number of cruise missiles and kamikaze drones used by the assailant. It is clear that Western air defense doctrine which relies on fighter-interceptors and long-range systems is considerably less in line with modern realities than Russia’s multi-layered air defense system doctrine which is a successor to the Soviet one," the report states.
According to the authors, modern long-and medium-range air defense systems are increasingly rarely encountering manned aircraft, with drones and ballistic missiles becoming the primary targets. "Manned aircraft are practically disappearing from the target set of long-and medium-range SAMs; their interception is now mostly limited to cases of pilot error. The priority targets are short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and super-heavy, high-altitude, long-range reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles," the experts emphasized.
In conclusion, the report authors noted that, taking into account the difference in cost, replacing hundreds of ballistic missiles with a comparable fleet of drones would dramatically increase target-destruction effectiveness.