drmeson
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It would likely work the other way around, UAVs providing Kowsar with information on targets to attack. The data transmission capabilities of Kowsar could still be held in reserve in case it receives a targeting pod in future, or there are plans to control drones from the air.
I am afraid that's not true if we go by the head of IAIO's words. It would have been true if he would have pointed out that the data link is just one way. He did not say that. In fact, he is very specifically saying that it's a two-way system i.e. One of the two vehicles tracks and transfers data to another and the other fires the weapon. He never said it's like only Kowsar tracks and gives it to UCAVS or vice versa. I would trust that he very well knows the difference between Single Duplex or Double Duplex transfer of information. Like I said before, this is head of IAIO, a Brig general with high education.
Fighters use datalinks in BVR combat to gain SA (Situational Awareness). This is as much a defensive tool as it is an offensive one, perhaps more the former than the latter - very useful for defending airspace. This is why I say their use would differ significantly from that of ground targets, which pose much less of a threat to fighters than aerial targets - unless they are SAMs, which is a whole other topic (RWR is mainly used in that case).
For the same reasons above, the information required of a ground target is significantly different, which is why I say technical aspects would come into play. For example, most older datalinks have no or very basic functions for ground targets. Such capability is only in the latest systems.
Any fighter with a Search and Track radar with SAR capabilities, does not need any external pod to track a surface target (mobile or stationary). Yes its a bonus if you add EO/IR track capabilities to a fighter but without them a multimode radar with SAR capability can still do a very good job of tracking ground targets. The radar they showed in HESA facilities upon Kowsar's unvieling and in Dezful airshow is a exact replica of Grifo-346 (Shape of antenna, T/R modules, track range etc all match) which has 1m resolution bearing SAR capability (equivalent to to F-16) and this is Kowsar's only way of tracking a ground target. The SDB-1 repica they showed on its pylons is also going to be fired using this SAR track info from radar.
This shows that the DL can handle Real Time Radar Data.
For the same reasons above, the information required of a ground target is significantly different, which is why I say technical aspects would come into play. For example, most older datalinks have no or very basic functions for ground targets. Such capability is only in the latest systems.
Surface targets need more data size because of background Terrain+Clutter while aerial targets do not have that. If ground target imagery is involved than it would need even more larger data size. TDL that Khajeh Fard is talking about can hold for Real time Radar data from Fighter(SAR)<----->UCAV(SAR/EO/IR), it will also hold for Fighter(TWS,SAR)<----->Fighter(TWS,SAR). Will need work for sure but its not some mountainous task that cant happen in Iran.
A patrol of a designated area. In peacetime, the radar does not need to be on all the time. Cueing via radio operators is sufficient.
Cueing on the radio can not substitute radar information. If Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) or CAP dedicated fighters have turned off their radars, this by no means implies that they are doing it because someone is radioing them from HQ. That is just illogical. At best cueing is about rudimentary mission guidance during intercept. Radar being turned off means they had a better alternative to their own radars.
You are both mostly right. However the F-14A is a very old aircraft without significant use of digital electronics and interfaces. The fact that the cockpit shows no signs of upgrades (in ANY sense, not even the HUD or simple instruments) tells me that the upgrade has not been particularly extensive. It would be non-feasible/non-trivial to mate a modern digital datalink system with those old systems. The F-14A was designed to work with Link-4. It wasn't until the F-14D (a very significant upgrade in electronics, just look at the cockpits) that Link-16 was added.
Again, cockpit upgradation or having shiny MFD's have nothing to do with the installation of Datalink. It only needs a T/R antenna and a plugin into the Processing unit of AWG-9 which will show its own Search-track targets and also the data received on the same old screen. You need no new MFD for that.
F-14AM's known upgrades are as follows:
(a) Thorough overhaul of airframe with 843 locally built parts
(b) New improved hydraulic and pneumatic system
(c) Complete overhaul of TF30-P414 Turbofans
(e) New Navigation and mission control system
(d) AWG-9 receiving lighter newly built parts, digitalization of signals, modern processors
(e) Fakour-90 LR-BVR Integration
By 2018 there were 8 x F-14AM's. I have not researched how many have received upgrades in last 5 years. Could be 7-10 more I guess.
Note how past attempts to non-American weapons onto Iran's F-14A such as R-73 and R-27 have failed, whereas efforts to fit for example, Indian AAMs onto Su-30s have succeeded. It's because 2000s electronics are a lot easier to adapt to each other than 60s/70s electronics.
It had nothing to do with era of electronics. R-73 was not pursued on F-14 because of the simple reason that IRIAF's F-14A do not have IRST to track heat signature of target unlike the MIG-29. R-73 would had to use its own tracker which reduces range and renders the All-aspect advantage of R-73 useless.
R-27R1 made little sense as well because its an SARH missile with bad record. Why risk an F-14A to stay in the hot zone to guide this missile while the same F-14 can fire AIM-54 or now Fakour-90 at much larger range? Besides there is another more important reason, IRIAF barely has a stock of 130-140 R-27R1 that are now 30+ years old. Its like not even enough for fleet of 23 x MIG-29 9.12. The Project was abandoned in favor of Fakour-90 which has much longer range with far better electronics and ECM.
The idea is that an unarmed reconnaissance UAV - which are much more numerous than UCAVs - would find a target, and then feed that information to the nearest aircraft carrying weapons. The aircraft would then launch weapons on the coordinates of a stationary target or vector towards the target to engage it with bombs or other closer-range munitions.
Khajeh Fard did not even remotely hinted towards use of one way/half duplex datalink between Fighter-UAV. He pointed towards a two way Tactical Datalink of Fighter-UCAV both of which can track targets and attack them.
Quote from Kopp. He has not ruled out A-50 networking with early flankers. Hence my point there is not sufficient information.
By the time Dr. Carlo wrote this article (10-12 years ago?) TKS-2 TDL was barely 6-7 years old upgrade on SU-30 and was isolated system to Flankers only. He is hoping in the article that MIG-31Bm and A-50 might adapt to Flankers TDL to gain universal DLing in future but have seen that?
The point i was making by posting Dr. Carlo's article was:
- The Flankers never had any inherent TDL
- The ones they got some 20 years ago was an Upgrade.
- The TDL was isolated to Flanker family only, not even working with MIG-31BM or A-50 who used their own isolated systems.
Aside from the obvious Chinese example, India has done so much with their Flankers. They've integrated their own weapons into them, have had domestic and foreign upgrades on them for HMDs and MFDs. And from the point of manufacture their Su-30s were customised with French and Israeli equipment installed instead of Russian equipment. When you want to make a big order, the supplier isn't going to put obstacles in your way.
Look behind the smoke screen and you will find Indians still paying 62 Million for USD/CKD kits of SU-30MK to Russia for "domestic production". Rosoboronexport of Russia (Defence export ministry) is even a partner in Indian local upgradation program of SU-30MKI including new Turbofans (~5 Billion USD) .... "Money should reach Moscow"
https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/russia-to-supply-more-ckd-kits-for-sukhoi-30mki/2582410/
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/india-s-su-30mki-costs-almost-twice-as-much-as-russia-s-new-su-30sm-here-s-why.
https://www.defensemirror.com/news/32069/India_Allocates__9_8B_for_Corvettes__Su_30MKI_Engines
Iran can also pull an "India" here and pay Russia some 20-25 Million USD per MIG-29 to carry out MLU and local upgrades on the dying and obsolete fleet. Russians as always will use front companies in Belgrade, Sofia, Minsk etc and spare parts, systems will start arriving in Iran. Iranian problem is internal though, country does not want an AF.
I am not going to discuss the other claims you made such as those on the limitations of the Irbis' capability, which are way out of proportion considering the capabilities of that system.
This is their own video, target barely got tracked at ~100 KM. Some Russian users defended this by saying that the target had an RCS of 0.6 m2 ... Even if we agree with them, then this means that SU-35 can track a F-18EF/Rafale/EF-2000 at 100 KM by that time they would all have unloaded their AIM-120C/D, Meteor BVRAAMs at 10-15 m2 RCS of the Flanker which they would track at 150+ KM.