Newsgroup: it.cultura.militare
Titolo: Russia builds highly effective Pechora surface-to-air missiles

Russia builds highly effective Pechora surface-to-air missiles 
 
MOSCOW. (Military commentator Nikita Petrov for RIA Novosti) - The final
stage of the Combat Fraternity 2007 military exercise will be held at the
Ashuluk firing range in the Astrakhan Region (southern Russia) on August
22. 
Defense ministers from ten CIS states will fly to the range after the
opening ceremony of the MAKS 2007 aerospace show, which opens in Zhukovsky
near Moscow on August 21. They will see the operation of the S-125 Pechora
(NATO reporting name SA-3 Goa), S-300PMU (SA-10 Grumble) and other air
defense missile systems, as well as the flights of the Su-27 Flanker
interceptors and Su-25 Frogfoot close support aircraft. 
In fact, the ministers will see in action in the lower reaches of the
Volga what they saw on stands in Zhukovsky. The Joint Air Defense System
includes the absolute majority of CIS states, even Ukraine, which is not a
member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Seeing it in
action makes a strong impression on air defense specialists and defense
ministers, who are political leaders rather than generals. 
However, some systems will not take part in field firing exercises. One of
them is the Pechora-2M SAM system, which Egypt has bought after a long
period of dealing with other countries' military exporters. About a dozen
countries outside the CIS want to buy Pechora. Among the former Soviet
republics Tajikistan has bought it, Uzbekistan is negotiating the
acquisition, and Armenia is considering a deal. What attracts them? 
Vyacheslav Korotayev, deputy director general of the Defense Systems
company that produces Pechora-2M, said it is a revamped version of the
S-125 Pechora, which seven CIS countries still have, along with missiles
for it. Although Pechora-2M is supplied together with new 5V27D and 5V27DE
missiles, which have an improved radio detonator and warhead, it can also
use the older 5V27 missiles, which is quite economic for any army. 
The new Pechora is mobile and can be redeployed within 20-25 minutes,
compared with three hours needed to move the old version. This is of
crucial importance for an air defense system, because air battles do not
last long, and the system also needs to evade return enemy fire. The
sooner it moves away, the more chances it has to survive until the next
battle. 
Besides, Pechora-2M has cutting-edge microprocessors, with their service
life advanced from 30-40 to 2,000 and even 10,000 hours. Moreover, the new
jam-resistant system can successfully cope with enemy ECM
(Electronic-Counter-Measures) systems and missiles. 
Experts recall that the United States had used Shrike anti-radar missiles
against targets in Vietnam. But things have changed since then, and even
the sophisticated HARM anti-radar missile is unable to hit Pechora-2M
aerial posts because they simply vanish off the screen. Unlike its
predecessor, which had a 26 km (16 miles) range, the new SAM system can
hit enemy aircraft 35 km (22 miles) away. 
The new system's aerial and command posts are located up to 300 meters
from missile launchers. Commanders relay orders via telecode and optronic
networks, which shield telecommunications and engagement control equipment
from enemy ECM systems and enhance personnel survival in case of air
strikes. 
The Pechora-2M features an optronic network comprising one TV channel and
one thermal imaging channel, allowing it to attack and destroy aerial
targets day and night in conditions of electronic warfare. Consequently,
the Pechora-2M can hit F-16 fighters at a 30-km (19-mile) range and larger
aircraft at a range of up to 35 km (22 miles). 
The revamped Osa-AKM, Tor-M1 and Buk-M1-2 SAM systems have similar
optronic networks, but one Pechora-2M can cover an area assigned to six or
eight Osa or Tor systems. This is a serious advantage in terms of the
price-combat efficiency ratio. 
It is for the latter reason that the CIS countries are buying Pechora-2M,
rather than S-300 or more expensive S-400 systems. Military experts claim
that it is more profitable for Russia to sell the cheaper Pechora to its
CIS and CSTO partners. Why? 
To begin with, Russia does not have enough modernized S-300 and the
cutting-edge S-400 systems for its own armed forces. Second, Pechora-2M
can deal with many air targets, including some types of ballistic and
cruise missiles, no less effectively than S-300 or S-400, and for less
money. 
And lastly, a fence of modernized Pechora SAM systems along the Russian
border (Belarus has a similar system) deprives the potential air aggressor
or terrorist of the surprise factor. The incoming targets can be destroyed
long before they reach the country's industrial, economic or cultural
centers. 
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 Russia builds highly effective Pechora surface-to-air missiles 
....che nome bellicoso...