A new piece of equipment that even the USA doesn’t yet have
DAVID AXE 7 March 2024 • 3:30pm
The Ukrainian air force went on an unprecedented aerial kill-streak last month. In 12 days starting on Feb. 17, the air force – which operates Ukraine’s warplanes and also its ground-based air defenses – claimed it shot down a staggering 13 Russian warplanes.
It’s evident the Russian air force, which has deployed several hundred of its roughly 1,000 fighters plus several support planes for sorties over Ukraine, stepped up its operations in February. The Russian army was poised to finally push the ammunition-starved Ukrainian garrison out of the eastern city of Avdiivka – and the air force saw an opportunity to hasten the Ukrainians’ retreat.
All things being equal, more aerial targets means more shoot-downs. But the elevated pace of Russian flights might not be the only factor in the February kill-streak. For starters, the Ukrainians appear to have taken some of the components of their three American-made Patriot missile batteries – their best air-defense batteries – and organized them into mobile units.
Traveling quickly just behind the front line, a couple of Patriot quad-launchers, connected to long-range radars via a radio data-link, could ambush Russian jets as far as 90 miles away then hit the road before the Russians can fire back. It’s this tactic that seems to have allowed the Ukrainians to knock down several Russian jets late last year in what amounted to a preview of the bloodier February campaign.
But one key shoot-down, the destruction of a rare Russian Beriev A-50 radar plane over the Sea of Azov on Feb. 23, occurred 120 miles from the front line – too far for a one-ton Patriot. The only missile system that Ukraine has access to that ranges that far is the old, ex-Soviet S-200, which fires a hulking, eight-ton missile.
The Ukrainian air force retired its S-200s back in 2013, but reactivated some of them last year as surface-to-surface strike missiles. It’s possible – likely, even – that the air force is once again using the S-200s in their original surface-to-air role.
But what radars guide the S-200s? The original Soviet radars emit so much energy that they usually betray the coming missile-launch – and give the targeted pilots time to take evasive action. There’s a hint, however, that the Ukrainians have found a more subtle way of cueing their most powerful missiles.
Back in February 2023, 10 months before Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine, the administration of Pres. Joe Biden announced a $2.2 billion package of military aid that included this intriguing item: “equipment to integrate Western air-defense launchers, missiles and radars with Ukraine’s air-defense systems.”
Analysts widely read that verbiage as a nod to the U.S. Army’s Integrated Battle Command System, built by Northrop Grumman. IBCS isn’t a radar. It isn’t a missile.
No, it’s a suite of processors, radio links and algorithms that lets pretty much any air-defense radar and pretty much any air-defense missile work together. “IBCS enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems,” Northrop Grumman explained.
The development of IBCS isn’t totally complete, yet, but it’s close. The Americans haven’t deployed any major IBCS components yet, but the Poles have. And the Poles, it’s worth noting, are among the biggest suppliers of air-defense equipment to the Ukrainians now that Republicans are blocking U.S. aid.
Even if it just got parts of IBCS, the Ukrainian air force could link up hundreds of long-range radars, including old Soviet models and the latest Western models, and use that comprehensive sensor coverage to guide all of its medium- and long-range missiles – again including Soviet and Western models.
Potentially all-seeing, heavily-armed and flexible, Ukrainian air-defenders may have been primed to take advantage of the opportunity Russian pilots presented them when the pilots surged into the air over Avdiivka. The shoot-downs didn’t slow until the battle in and around Avdiivka slowed.
If Ukraine did get some of the IBCS, its recent aerial kill-streak should be a ringing endorsement. That particular piece of kit works extremely well, and the United States and its allies should acquire it, as soon as possible.
Selected DT readers’ comments:
Stephen Asbridge
“It’s evident the Russian air force, which has deployed several hundred of its roughly 1,000 fighters plus several support planes for sorties over Ukraine, stepped up its operations in February.”
In other words, there were more Russian planes in the air for the brave Ukrainian air force to shoot down.
In The Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe tried to provoke masses of precious RAF fighters into the air but Dowding had the sense to just let the Germans waste their fuel and go home. If we’d fallen for it, we’d have lost aircraft and crew unnecessarily. The Russians are on the offensive, so of course they are losing some of their 1,000 or so fighter aircraft. Unfortunately, Ukraine is still losing this war.
Scott Driver
Love the news! 13-14 Orc planes shot down in 2 weeks is terrific sharp shooting. IBCS seems to be the glue that’s helping to make at least some of the kills happen if not all.
Mark Amerman
From that article,
Back in February 2023, 10 months before Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine, the administration of Pres. Joe Biden announced a $2.2 billion package of military aid that included this intriguing item: “equipment to integrate Western air-defense launchers, missiles and radars with Ukraine’s air-defense systems.”
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That’s a big lie. The Biden administration has connected support of Ukraine with support for massive illegal immigration into the United States.
In other words to support Ukraine Republicans would have to support illegal immigration into the United States.
The Biden administration has betrayed Ukraine and they are 100% responsible for the relative lack of aid to Ukraine lately.
M Bilewycz
Reply to Mark Amerman
You know that isn’t true.
It’s the Republican naxi party which is betraying Ukraine.
Watch those recent exchanges between UK journalists and Republican Marjorie Taylor Green, who couldn’t take pointed questions about appeasement and their support for Putin, ending in her foul-mouthed responses. She and the Republican naxis are bigger losers than Putin.
Ivan Kuzyk
Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Green, Donald Trump Jr. Tommy Tuberville…. the list goes on. I might suggest that anyone who is opposed to support for Ukraine is effectively supporting Russia. Imagining that you only have funding for the border or funding for Ukraine is a ruse for the dim and the dishonest. To claim that America cannot support Ukraine and manage the border at the same time is the kind of stock in trade of pro-Putin Republicans. I live in a deep Red state in the US, this view has become more than common. Were the people in the Biden Administration a bit more competent, they could point this out. The problem in the Biden White House is that after 2 years they still don’t have consensus on how to contain Russia.
Graham Boyd
I’ve seen quite a few reports suggesting they have worked a way to blind certain types of Russian aircraft to incoming missiles.
Matthew Woods
Can someone explain to me why we’re not spending the oligarchs frozen billions on arming Ukraine? I’m sure Putin isn’t planning on giving western businesses back their abandoned assets so why don’t we spend it on weapons for Ukraine? On this note, why not freeze every Russian asset outside of Russia. Sooner or later an oligarch will grow some balls and take Putin out themselves. We’ve been way too soft on them so far.
Jeremy Goodwin
Giving the game away? Really, anything that gets onto the DT will have already got into public domain somewhere. The Russians almost certainly already knew, possibly even helped by the Germans.
Kevin James Peel
Why are you giving away such information Mr Axe ? It may not be secret but why let it into the public domain. Doing Russia’s work for them.
Steven Young
About time the republicans remembered what happened in the 70’s & 80’s with Russia and stopped blocking the aid.
Despicable.
“Even if it just got parts of IBCS, the Ukrainian air force could link up hundreds of long-range radars, including old Soviet models and the latest Western models, and use that comprehensive sensor coverage to guide all of its medium- and long-range missiles”
And they could do it in passive mode – not emitting radiation that would alarm the Russians of the threat, but jzst pucking up signals. In the case of the AWACS plane A-50, it’s obvious that no active radar was necessary to pinpoint that huge emitter. And the Su-34 may put their radars on, too, to achieve the necessary accuracy furing their bombing runs. Or the Su-35 escorts do, to detect approaching missiles. With ICBS, such emissions can be picked up anywhere and used for guiding Patriots or S-200s towards the enemy planes, up to the point where the missiles’ own seeker heads can track the targets. Once Patriots are that close, it’s too late for the bombers, who fly “fat, dumb and happy” (as US Airforce slang calls it), to escape destruction. So, no big mystery, just highly professional work done by those dedicated missile crews of the AFU.
🇺🇦😎👍
The brilliance of the Ukrainians is impressive.