Article

2022-05-23 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

On the Role of Russian Forward Air Controllers

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Posted by badanov 2022-05-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Going from what I have read in the past about the Soviets, I'd say the author is a rated pilot. Only a pilot would lay claim to the type of knowledge necessary to carry out an air strike.

That said, and given the large number of cruise missile strikes, I suspect that the Russian successes with the ongoing bombardment they are delivering the Ukrainians, most of those strike, especially "precision" strikes are with air controllers with a laser designators.

That means two things. Those long range missiles have a selectable switch that enables them to go to a point, then either follow a preplanned flight path, then seek a laser spot to hit its target, or simply follow the path if a laser spot is not detected.

Posted by badanov 2022-05-23 03:47|| 2022-05-23 03:47|| Front Page Top

#2 ..most of those strike, especially "precision" strikes are with air controllers with a laser designators.

..or they're using GPS (theirs or ours) and info derived from lousy security and comsec. I'd make a reasonable assumption that Russian satellite assets are focused on the theater now rather than the usual long term surveillance elsewhere. That allows them to focus their attention and exploitations.

Posted by Procopius2k 2022-05-23 08:08|| 2022-05-23 08:08|| Front Page Top

#3 I don't see using FACs for cruise missiles. We don't. Of course, the Russians do everything the Russian way, so I could be totally wrong.

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-05-23 08:10|| 2022-05-23 08:10|| Front Page Top

#4 I believe VKS is the Aero-Space Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily)

Posted by SteveS 2022-05-23 11:14|| 2022-05-23 11:14|| Front Page Top

#5 You're right. Thanks for the reminder. Corrected.

Posted by badanov 2022-05-23 11:35|| 2022-05-23 11:35|| Front Page Top

#6 badanov, many thanks for the informative article. 'Deconflicting' a battlespace filled with planes, artillery shells and unmanned weapons be hard. Still, what I found interesting was the tone of the article of the article that 'pilots needed to be walked through everything by the hand' by higher command...

Posted by magpie 2022-05-23 12:47|| 2022-05-23 12:47|| Front Page Top

#7 You're not going to jump into the old SU-25 and go on a free hunt, as the Russian call it. The costs of ignoring aerial battlespace security is too high, especially now for the Russians.

If you'll remember, the Russians lost about eight aircraft in the War in Georgia, with all but three due to friendly ground fire.

Posted by badanov 2022-05-23 14:00|| 2022-05-23 14:00|| Front Page Top

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