F-16 Fires on Patriot Missile System

[Replicant]

Sky News have reported that a F-16 flying from Kuwait to Iraq fired on a Patriot missile system.  Early reports indicate that the Patriot locked onto the F-16.  

However it now seems that the F-16 locked onto the Patriot radar by mistake, firing a AGM-88 and took out the radar.  I believe there are no casualties.

This was supposed to have happened early yesterday... no doubt more accurate information will be posted soon...

As a reminder, a Patriot took out a RAF Tornado GR4 a few days ago, killing both onboard.  BBC News article explains what could have gone wrong: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2878113.stm

Regards

[Animal]

After that Tornado incident I'd also think twice about considering those Patriots friendly
The F-16 probably reported a radar targeting them, the pilot so the patriot and thought "no way in hell."

[Mini D]

Some of our transmitter setups had 1000 yards of fiber optic lines so the controller could be set up over half a mile away.  This was why.  The RF signal is something you want to keep people well away from.

MiniD

[Boroda]

Originally posted by Mini D
Some of our transmitter setups had 1000 yards of fiber optic lines so the controller could be set up over half a mile away.  This was why.  The RF signal is something you want to keep people well away from.

MiniD

MiniD, are you a SAM officer?

Interesting, does a Patriot have digital fiberoptic control lines? Is it a some kind of new modification?

I studied as an S-200 "Volga" SAM technical division officer as a military specialization when I studied in college. The guys wearing insulating suits at +45C, working in brown vapours of oxydizer The whole monstrous thing is 45 years old now, liquid-fueled, an 11 meter beast with 300kg warhead, capable of bringing 20 kiloton presents against formations of B-52s. An unbreakable shied 500km in diameter and 40+ km high.

My Uncle was an S-75 targeting officer and volunteered to Vietnam, had 4 victories, then was wounded by one of the first Shrikes and evacuated back to Union. Later he scored some kills in Egipt.

It's interesting that Americans use fiber-optics in field communications including SAM sites. I wonder what can happen if an armoured tug will cross such a line.

As for RF signals - an S-200 target-illuminating antenna reflects several kilowatts. K2 cabin crews used it to microwave chickens

[Mini D]

I did not work with patriot missiles.  I worked with aircraft weapons and systems and with ground radio communications.  The TACIT Rainbow was a weapon that was being touted when before I got out of active duty (working with weapons).  It was a fire and forget hover for up to 24hrs kind of smart bomb that could lock onto RF generation and target the source... even if the source was shut off.

When I got out of active duty, I worked for the Air National Guard with ground radio communications and helped with mobile radar setups as well as other microwave based stuff.

The new systems were all coming on line with fiber-optic interconnects for control heads.  There'd be a control station at the equipment, but when you deployed to hostile environments, you remoted the control head via fiber optic cable.  It had little to nothing to do with the radar itself, and more to do with everything else.

You just can't get far enough away with copper wire.  The loss requirements are too strict.

MiniD

[Boroda]

Mini D, now I am an IT/communications engineer and I am aware of the mechanical limitations of modern fiberoptic lines, that's why I asked.

In PVO (aircraft Defence) all control lines are still copper wires. For S-200 the radiotechnical (targeting and search) division can be up to 15km from launch facilities. I think it's enough Unless, in case of major "hot" conflict, S-200 brigade positions were first targets for your "Minutemen"

Cable protection is a very important thing. In 1986 in Lybia American HARMs didn't do much damage to target-illuminating antennas, but they have cut the cables that were not properly protected (dug into the ground) by Lybian crews. OTOH one HARM was captured intact after penetrating the antenna, warhead didn't explode, so USSR got the latest American weapon