Dillinger
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@shuntmaster
Oh nanhi jaan, ground based sensors, the AEW&C plug in some of the gaps depending upon deployment and duration of operations. Will there be gaps, sure but that does not merit your sweeping statement. Now at the moment, yes a multi pronged areal attack from multiple axes can overwhelm their ADGE to quite some extent if one is willing to absorb certain losses, part of the reason why the Sukhois are so banked upon (their legs and not the avionics/radar- not at the moment at least). The point is to furnish your statement with data, he's ( @Oscar ) not expressly stating that you're wrong, just questioning the value of the concerned post- furnish the data (not his previous post) and all will be kosher.
Ergo the reason that I expressed my reservations on terming it as an analysis. Its a bare-bones Wikipedia level comparison with sparse details. The author has missed the woods for the trees. There is, as you pointed out, no information whatsoever about actually employing the various attributes of the system within a scenario or the most likely scenario and no consideration given to the geography of the region (something which you can be excused from knowing but not the author in question).
Oh nanhi jaan, ground based sensors, the AEW&C plug in some of the gaps depending upon deployment and duration of operations. Will there be gaps, sure but that does not merit your sweeping statement. Now at the moment, yes a multi pronged areal attack from multiple axes can overwhelm their ADGE to quite some extent if one is willing to absorb certain losses, part of the reason why the Sukhois are so banked upon (their legs and not the avionics/radar- not at the moment at least). The point is to furnish your statement with data, he's ( @Oscar ) not expressly stating that you're wrong, just questioning the value of the concerned post- furnish the data (not his previous post) and all will be kosher.
The most help I can do is to provide information at the foundational level of these things, either to clear up misconceptions or to debunk fantastic claims, particularly from the Chinese quarter here.
Reading the article, I hesitate to be generous and call it an 'analysis'. All the author seemed to have done is cite hardware capabilities and some specs, not much in terms of the tactical utility of each piece. Perhaps that is his goal, but if so, then do not call it an 'analysis'. Anyone could do what he did and come to a conclusion, perhaps not the same as his or perhaps the same, but that ease should be enough to discourage the label of 'analysis'. At the very least, he should have give some examples of the tactical usage of each piece and how one side can use one tactical advantage to nullify or even defeat the other side's.
Remember: In a fight, you win not by fighting under your opponent's rules but by forcing him to fight under yours. And cheating is allowed.
An advantage is a rule and one should always strive to simultaneously force one's opponent to fight under one's advantages while avoiding his. Probably he would have come to the same conclusion, that of no clear advantage, but it would have been caveat-ed as no clear tactical advantage due to no clear technical advantage.
That said, even though I hesitate to make any tactical analyses since I do not live over there, do not know the financials of both countries, and do not know the array of each military, I am curious about one tactical aspect...
As highlighted, why is that significant for Pakistan?
For the interested lay readers, there is something called the RADAM algorithm (radar detection of agitated metals)...
Analysis of radar detection of agitated metals (RADAM)
Simply put...The RADAM algorithm searches for opposite but complementary signals that exhibits predictable behaviors inside a virtual boundary. A helo's rotor is an example.
If you are looking at a two-blade rotor while it is in motion (virtual boundary) you will have one blade moving away from you and one blade moving towards you at 180 deg difference/opposite. The dominant component inside the total return will be the Doppler component. If you are looking at a three-blade rotor, you will have blades Doppler components of equal degrees of separation while in motion. A four-blade rotor assembly will have 90 degrees of separation.
Same concept when looking at a wheel. If there are upper spokes, there must be lower spokes and all have equal degrees of Doppler separation.
If you have enough of these signatures, you can compile a library of known rotor assemblies of helos in the world, or truck wheels, or tank tracks, or even jet engines. Which leads back to the question of why did Pakistan bought the GIRAFFE system?
When you go shopping for a radar system, air defense or air traffic control, you enter the market with a highest priority technical capability in mind. For example...If the system is intended for short range air traffic control with short range meaning your airliners are close enough that they are readied for line up instructions for landing, you want a system with higher freq, with shorter pulse repetition, and complex pulse characteristics to help you discriminate various sizes of incoming aircrafts. All of these calculations will be done for you transparently.
But just because you entered the market with a highest technical priority, that does not mean you ignore other capabilities any system can do besides the one capability you want. Flight path projections based upon history is nice to have. So does wind shear alert if such a condition arises unexpectedly. If the system is 'smart' enough, it can even recommend which target should land first based upon certain factors that you decided earlier. You would ask the seller what else can his product do.
Did Pakistan asked the Swede seller specifically about helo detection?
What make helo detection difficult is not the RADAM algorithm. We had to write one in training, even with pseudo-code. But the difficulty here is that helo is usually a low altitude aircraft that often blends in with the background, visually and electromagnetically, making data extraction from the RADAM algorithm problematic. Everything is about the sophistication of data gathering and data extraction methods.
So how capable is this for the GIRAFFE system? Did Pakistan knew about it before asking for more details and purchased it? Or did the Swede seller mentioned it, showed how capable it was, and Pakistan bought it? Either way, it begs the question of what does Pakistan guessed, or heavens forbid know, of the Indian Army's tactical usage of its helo fleet to weigh in on purchasing the system.
When you have to rely on purchasing your defense, intelligence about potential adversaries is even more important than when you are capable of creating your own to tailor to your tactical needs. You are essentially at the mercy of whoever selling a product that allegedly have the capabilities you need/want. You enter the market armed with that intelligence and assess the products offered to you.
Pakistan did not purchased the GIRAFFE with that feature just because it is a nice thing to have but 'I really do not need it.' Not even Saddam Hussein was that stupid and he had a professional to shop for the Iraqi military.
Ergo the reason that I expressed my reservations on terming it as an analysis. Its a bare-bones Wikipedia level comparison with sparse details. The author has missed the woods for the trees. There is, as you pointed out, no information whatsoever about actually employing the various attributes of the system within a scenario or the most likely scenario and no consideration given to the geography of the region (something which you can be excused from knowing but not the author in question).
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