Radar effectiveness vs. low flying aircraft

[Bogun]

Can anybody please, shed the light on the issue of airborne radar effectiveness in detecting and tracking low flying targets?

 

As I understand it was fairly resent, when modern radars become capable of performing this task and in time period covered in LOMAC (80-90) we should experience real difficulties in tracking target aircraft flying at altitudes lower then our own, even if they are described having “look down, shoot down capabilities”.

 

My understanding is – if I'm flying lets say at about 3000m - even targets at altitudes of few hundred meters should be much harder to track/lock onto and nearly impossible for the targets flying below, lets say, 100m. Am I right?

 

I would especially appreciate any sources were we can read about how problem actually present itself the resolution of it.

[GGTharos]

No, this is incorrect - I will explain more when I return from work but, basically, the doppler radar easily discriminates moving targets from the ground - such as your aircraft - at any altitude.

[Sealpup]

Ground return clutter will not protect you from doppler radar. However, flying low enough so that terrain features get between you and the airborn emitter will protect you.

 

Another area where flying low can help, against any radar, is that it could very well put your aircraft out of the vertical limits of the higher flying aircraft's radar.

[Bogun]

Guys,

We all know a little (like myself) and some know a lot about how pulls Doppler radar operate.

I was NOT really talking about not being able to detect or track, but about diminished range and probability of detection of low flying targets. Also I was talking about years 1980-90...

[SwingKid]

Sorry Bogun, I don't understand the question. There were no Ukrainian or Georgian air forces in 80-90, there was not even any MiG-29 until 1985, and Su-27 and Su-33 came later. All of the radar-equipped flybale aircraft in Lock On use pulse-Doppler radars - there is a story that in 1991, an F-15C even destroyed an automobile moving on the ground with an AIM-7 Sparrow missile. What specific radar are you talking about?

 

-SK

[GGTharos]

Bogun, as far as the fighters in LOMAC go - radar detection range IS reduced (and should be) when looking down, but it is not very significant.

 

To give you an example, an F-15C in GW1 detected MiG-29 sized targets (Mirages, in fact) at 80nm - they were flying at an altitude of about 1500m, the F-15 was flying at 10000m. Thsi was head-on ... so you see, LOMAC actually cuts the 15C's detection range down too much - but this is ok, it works well with the map size that we have.

 

As long as you are moving quickly and relatively head on, detection range is very good.

 

Aircraft don't fly low to hide from FIGHTER radar, they do it to make life difficult for SAM radar, which will in fact expereince MORE gain loss from radar clutter than a fighter radar will experience looking own, because the SAM can potentially have much more energy bouncing back at it from the ground (because it is closer to it) and thus more noise/. To cope with this the SAM reduces gain (sensitivity) and so detection range is cut down.

 

A fighter doesn't have quite as many problems looking down unless, possibly, it also is very low.

 

At the same time, high to low missile shots are fairly effective (not as effective as high to high, but still) but they should be more susceptible to chaff and other countermeasures against a low flying target DEPENDING ON THE COMPOSITIONS OF THE TERRAIN. That is, if the terrain has highly reflective properties, it will cause more problems for a radar guided missile since the missile may become confused and attempt to track some reflection off the ground, and miss the target - on the other hand, the low flying fighter suffers dearly for the same reason when it attempts ot use its radar -a lot of radar energy is reflected back into the fighter's radar antenna, causing it to reduce gain to cope, shortening detection ranges etc.

 

Also, if the ground is not very reflective, while neither fighter or missiles may experience problems with guidance, the high-flying fighter's missiles will have 3-4 timesthe effective range ofthe low flying fighter's missiles!

 

So EITHER way, trying to fly low in order to do AIR TO AIR fighting is not a very good idea.