US newspaper: S-300/400 is not perfect to block F-35's attack

The US newspaper said that the air defense systems of Russia and Syria are very powerful. Moscow continues to invest heavily in developing defense systems to ensure the protection of Syrian airspace. In fact, they have the ability to defend close to Russian airspace and create something like the so-called "Iron Dome".

However, they are far from perfect. Multi-layered and interconnected air defense systems can be remarkably effective in controlling large areas of airspace. At the same time, Russian air defense systems can quickly track and destroy fourth-generation fighters, such as the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon.

But some experts believe that Russian air defense missile systems have some shortcomings in the “launcher”. The equipment of Russian air defense systems continues to be aimed at the ability to effectively detect and destroy fifth-generation fighters - Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.

Mike Coffman, a CIA military analyst on Russian armed forces, said:

"Creating a modern, sophisticated air defense system that can detect and destroy new generation aircraft is the goal of many countries. Nowadays, new generations of aircraft are gradually appearing, and they almost all have stealth capabilities. Therefore, Russia is currently actively researching the problem of detecting stealth aircraft.

Russian radar systems and advanced air defense missile complexes are now able to integrate large volumes of data, and Russian experts continue to put Russia at the forefront of this development. In the future, Russian air defense systems will be widely used in China, Iran and other countries in the region."

Mr. Coffman noted that the advanced S-300 and S-400 air defense systems are designed to detect and track highly stealthy aircraft F-22 and F-35. However, doing this is not easy.

HF radar for early target detection allows operation in the ultra-short wave region (in the frequency range of meters, decimeters and centimeters) to detect and track all current stealth fighters.

However, radar systems do not guarantee fire control. "Russia has installed a high-frequency early warning radar system, but even if Russian designers provide real images in space, is it possible to conduct fire to destroy low-flying aircraft?", Mr. Coffman questioned.

Of course, Russia can do it, he continued. For Russia, solutions to the problem of developing anti-aircraft missile systems against enemy aircraft will be a top priority. Russia has invested significantly in upgrading and improving its air defense systems.

And the Kremlin has always considered our air force a dangerous threat. Surely the Russian military will make every effort to achieve its goal - to detect stealth aircraft and destroy them with its air defense systems.

So far, it seems that neither Russia nor China has solved this problem. Stealth technology is becoming more and more popular and will be further developed in the future, becoming an absolutely effective advantage for fighter aircraft.

Ultimately, it can be said that Moscow will find a solution to the problem of detecting and destroying stealth aircraft, but when they will appear is still a question mark. Therefore, detecting and defeating the F-35 if the US and Israel use it in Syria is still an unsolved problem for both Syria and Russia.