AEGIS Fail in Black SEA, Ruskies Burn Down USS Donald “Duck”
Russian Su -24 scores off against the American “USS Donald Cook”
Photo: RIA Novosti
Editorial note: We are told the story is a month old. If any of this is true, then this is a huge issue, not just the lack of follow up but the lack of follow up itself.
Editorial note: We are told the story is a month old. If any of this is true, then this is a huge issue, not just the lack of follow up but the lack of follow up itself.
US destroyer “Donald Cook” with cruise missiles “Tomahawk”
entered the neutral waters of the Black Sea on April 10. The purpose was
a demonstration of force and intimidation in connection with the
position of Russia in Ukraine and Crimea. The appearance of American
warships in these waters is in contradiction of the Montreux Convention
about the nature and duration of stay in the Black Sea by the military
ships of countries not washed by this sea.
In response, Russia sent an unarmed bomber Su- 24 to fly
around the U.S. destroyer. However, experts say that this plane was
equipped with the latest Russian electronic warfare complex. According
to this version, “Aegis” spotted from afar the
approaching aircraft, and
sounded alarm. Everything went normally, American radars calculated the
speed of the approaching target. And suddenly all the screens went
blank. “Aegis” was not working any more, and the rockets could not get
target information. Meanwhile, Su-24 flew over the deck of the
destroyer, did battle turn and simulated missile attack on the target.
Then it turned and repeated the maneuver. And did so 12 times.
Apparently, all efforts to revive the “Aegis” and provide
target information for the defence failed. Russia’s reaction to military
pressure from the United States was profoundly calm, feels the Russian
political scientist Pavel Zolotarev:
The demonstration was original enough. A bomber without any
weapons, but having onboard equipment for jamming enemy radar, worked
against a destroyer equipped with “Aegis”, the most modern system of air
and missile defence. But this system of mobile location, in this case
the ship, has a significant drawback. That is, the target tracking
capabilities. They work well when there is a number of these ships which
can coordinate with each other somehow. In this case there was just one
destroyer. And, apparently, the algorithm of the radar in the “Aegis”
system on the destroyer did not load under the influence of jamming by
the Su-24. It was therefore not only a nervous reaction to the fact of
flying around by the Russin bomber which was common practice during the
Cold War. The reaction of the Americans was due to the fact that most
modern system, especially its informative or radar part, did not work
adequately. Therefore, there was such a nervous reaction to the whole
episode.
After the incident, the foreign media reported that “Donald
Cook” was rushed into a port in Romania. There all the 27 members of
the crew filed a letter of resignation. It seems that all 27 people have
written that they are not going to risk their lives. This is indirectly
confirmed by the Pentagon statement according to which the action
demoralized the crew of the American ship.
What are the possible consequences of the incident provoked by the U.S. in the Black Sea? Pavel Zolotarev forecasts:
I think that Americans are somehow going to reflect on
improving the system “Aegis”. This is a purely military aspect. In
political terms, there is hardly any likelihood of demonstrative steps
by either side. That is enough. Meanwhile, for Americans it is a very
unpleasant moment. In general, the missile defence system which they
deploy involves huge expenditures. They have to prove each time that it
is necessary to allocate funds from the budget. At the same time, the
ground component of the ABM was tested in ideal conditions and showed a
low efficiency. This fact is concealed by the Pentagon. The most modern
component, the sea-based system “Aegis” also showed its shortcomings in
the present case.
The system with which the Russian Su-24 shocked the
American destroyer “Donald Cook” has the code name “Khibiny”. This is
the name of the mountain range on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic
Circle. “Khibiny” is the newest complex for radioelectronic jamming of
the enemy. They will be installed on all the advanced Russian planes .
Recently the complex has undergone regular testing
exercises on the ground in Buryatia. Apparently, the tests which were
conducted under conditions as close to real as possible, were
successful.