US weapons captured and decoded by Russia

Russia's Radio-Electronic Technologies Concern (KRET) announced at the end of May that it was preparing to create a new electronic warfare system after studying US Tomahawk cruise missiles captured from the Syrian battlefield. This is not the first time that the Russians have captured US weapons to study and dissect in order to strengthen their own military potential, according toSputnik.

M46 tanks, P-51 and F-86 fighters

The Soviet Union received thousands of weapons from the United States during World War II to fight against Nazi Germany. However, the Cold War that followed prompted Moscow to collect and study Washington's modern weapons to study and find ways to counter them. The opportunity came to the Soviet Union when the Korean War broke out in 1950, allowing the country to collect many modern weapons deployed by the United States.

During the war, the Soviet Union captured a number of M46 Patton medium tanks that had been newly adopted by the US in 1949, as well as the latest variant of the F-51D, the mainstay fighter in the US Air Force before jet fighters were introduced.

On October 6, 1951, a Soviet MiG-15 damaged an American F-86 Sabre fighter, forcing pilot Bill Garrett to make an emergency landing on the coast of the Yellow Sea. After many difficulties, Soviet experts were able to bring the F-86 back to Moscow for study.

The evaluation results showed that the MiG-15 fighter was as powerful as the F-86, and did not require the Soviet Union to copy the Sabre line to maintain its ability to confront the United States. However, a thorough dissectionThe AN/APG-30 rangefinder radar on the American fighter helped the Soviet Union significantly improve the fire control system for its fighters, and also supported the development of a danger warning system for the MiG-15.

AIM-9B Sidewinder air-to-air missile

In an air battle on September 28, 1958, a Taiwanese F-86 fighter pursued and fired an AIM-9B missile at a Chinese MiG-17.

The missile hit the MiG-17 but failed to explode, allowing the pilot to return safely to base with the missile still in the tail. Ground technicians successfully removed the AIM-9B from the fighter’s tail, but Beijing was at a loss as to what to do with this special prize.

Armed with that information, the Soviet Union sought to persuade China to hand over the AIM-9B. After negotiations, the Sidewinder missile was transferred to the Soviet Vympel Design Institute for research.

"The Sidewinder missile was like a university, revealing many manufacturing technologies to us. It helped the Soviet Union upgrade technical teaching materials and change the way missiles were produced in the future," said Gennadiy Sokolovskiy, later Vympel's chief engineer.

The Soviet Union copied the AIM-9B model and created the K-13 air-to-air missile line, which entered service in 1960. The improved version K-13A was born in 1962, becoming the main short-range air-to-air missile of Soviet fighters for many years to come.

FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defense missile

In the mid-1980s, the Pentagon decided to equip Islamist rebels in Afghanistan with the advanced FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defense missile (MANPAD). The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided the rebels with at least 250 launchers and 500 Stinger rounds.

Afghan rebels caused a lot of damage to the Soviet air force with this type of missile, forcing the Soviet Military Intelligence Agency (GRU) to send special forces into the battlefield to capture FIM-92 complexes, then bring them back home for analysis.

After capturing a number of Stinger missiles, Soviet engineers developed a series of effective countermeasures, which significantly reduced the losses caused by this weapon.

Humvee armored vehicle

On August 8, 2008, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili launched a military campaign against South Ossetia, killing 12 Russian peacekeepers there.

The Russian Defense Ministry then sent a series of military units into South Ossetia in response. During this blitzkrieg, Moscow captured five Humvee armored vehicles transferred by the US to Georgia, equipped with state-of-the-art electronic systems and NATO-standard encrypted communications equipment. Washington repeatedly requested that Moscow return these armored vehicles, but was refused.

Tomahawk missile

On April 14, the US, UK and France launched 105 cruise missiles at Syria’s alleged chemical weapons facilities in Damascus and Homs, in response to accusations that the country used chemical weapons against civilians. The Syrian army later discovered two unexploded Tomahawk missiles of the latest US Block IV variant and quickly transferred them to Russia.

"Thanks to these two missiles, we can clearly understand the communication mechanism, control system, guidance and firing range, as well as tactical and technical parameters to develop more effective countermeasures in future wars," the KRET representative emphasized.

Duy Son