Originally posted by Have
Don't know about actual radar seekers, but I believe that many modern regular air-to-air radar guided missiles have also the possibility to home on jam, which would be pretty close to the radar seeking functionality.
That might work if the jammer technology is over 20 years old. Modern jammers do not "blind with a flash light". They mess with the missiles interception procedure in ways I will not get into. If you have good intelligence on the ememy's missile, you can build a system that will make you plane almost immune to it. The less you know about his system, the mixed results you'll get.
EW capabilities are a closely guarded secret. In modern wars they are a nasty suprise you save for your enemy. That is why the IAF installs his own systems in the planes and does not relay on the "generic" systems that come with the plane.
Typically the launch of an surface-to-air missile is detected by the change of radar emissions, i believe this same is true for radar guided air-to-air missiles also.
That's true. In the older missile systems (both ground and air) you could easily tell in what stage the enemy's system is in by its emission (search, track or guidance). In newer systems the situation is more complicated but still there will be a change in emission (pulse rate, frequance, modulation...).
I recall that the Israel airforce lost quite many planes when the eqyptians introduced (then) brand-new SA-6 systems during the six-day war on the 1967.
I think you mean "Yom Kippur" war in 1973. In 67 Egyptian SAMs were mostly SA2/3 that were relatively easy to deal with. By 73 both SA2/3 were improved and the SA6 was harder to jam and to shake by manuvering (SA2 was easy to spot and was not very manuverable).
In the first days newly accuired A4 skyhawks and F4 Phantoms were equipt with the american jamming pod that was used in Vietnam. I freely translate from the words of Colonel Menahem Einy:
"... In addition to bombs we carried something else. For the first time in the IAF, our planes were equipt with EW pod, that by promise would give us effective protection from the Egyptian missiles.
...
Its instructions we got from a Major in the USAF. His suggested flight profile, that was worked out by the american air force, bothered us from the 1st moment: we were supposed to fly in pairs, at 18,000 feet, straight and with minimum bank so not to disturb the pod to jam the guidance of the missiles sent toward us. Our instincts as pilots were rebeling againt that profile.
...
The pod was said to be so efficient, a magic solution to the SA2 and SA3 that we had no choice but to accept and fly accordingly.
That proved to be a fatal mistake. The pod had no ability vs. SA3 and very limited ability vs. SA2.
...
Minutes before we got to the target, we got a warning that SA3 has locked on us. A few second later it launched. We saw it comming, but did no evasives. Unbelieveable how we sat there and just did nothing to save ourselves - because we believed that the silly pod will do the job.
The missile, of course, was not impressed with our "wonder weapon", came from below and exploded."
The plane was damaged. The headed back to Israeli territory but were forced to eject just before crossing. He spent 40 months in Egyptian prison and the rear pilot was killed.
The IAF learned its lesson and invested heavily in home made counter measures. 8 years later, in the Lebanon war, employing "special means" the entire Syrian SAM array, that they advanced into Lebanon, was destroyed without the loss of a single plane. This was achieved in the first few days and the IAF spent the rest of the war hunting for the last two SA8 vehicles prawling the region (which were not really able to operate as every time they started to transmitt it would alert the SAM hunters).
Just as a side remark, the IAF lost more planes to good old fashioned AAA than to SAMs and shot down more planes with cannons than with missiles. Try to jam a bullet...
Bozon
