Anti-radiation missiles and short-range SAMs

[maturin]

LOMAC:

 

Is there a reason why the Strela-1 and Strela-10 cannot be targeted by the Kh-25MP, leaving the Su-25 with few tools to deal with them? They have big honking radars on the top, while the itty bitty one on the Shilka seems to draw every anti-rad missile from miles around, even more than Tors and Tunguskas. Such a waste.

 

Also, how can I mount Kh-58s on my Su-25 like in that SEAD mission?

[neoxman]

That would be because the Strela-1 is infra-red guided, and the Strela-10 is optical/infra-red guided.

[EtherealN]

Strela-1:

 

That's not a RADAR - it's the launchers. ;)

 

Strela-10:

 

Same again, though it does have a radar. That is, however, NOT a guidance radar. They don't "paint" you with the radar to guide the missile. It's an optically aimed weapon with IR missiles. Think of it like setting up for an AIM-9 shot - you could use the radar for a brief second to confirm that the target is within your engagement envelope or to perform IFF, but the shot itself is all IR and passive.

[mikoyan]

And you know; anti aircraft operators not always keep their radars on to shoot an aircraft, because they know they can get targeted by an anti radiation missile. SAMs also have several modes to guide their missiles; they may use a short blip of the radar to locate the aircraft speed and position; then they would launch the missile without radar guidance, after a few seconds, they would point the radar to the enemy estimated position, get a lock to guide the missile on the last seconds of its flight path, and BANG! toasted sneaky kill by SAM. But that tactic is more like a guerrilla tactic; some SAM sites are multi layered; that way enemy aircraft have a though job killing them; that is where the wild weasels come to play... unfortunately most of that stuff is classified. Lest see if someone else can point out more detailed info about the subject.