Défense aérienne : la Russie parie sur... le SA-3

Alors qu'elle compte toujours mettre en oeuvre ses premières batteries opérationnelles de S-400 à la fin de l'année, la Russie met plus particulièrement en évidence une nouvelle version du SA-3 dans le cadre du prochain salon MAKS :

About a dozen countries outside the CIS want to buy Pechora. Among the former Soviet republics Tajikistan has bought it, Uzbekistan is negotiating the acquisition, and Armenia is considering a deal. What attracts them?

Vyacheslav Korotayev, deputy director general of the Defense Systems company that produces Pechora-2M, said it is a revamped version of the S-125 Pechora, which seven CIS countries still have, along with missiles for it. Although Pechora-2M is supplied together with new 5V27D and 5V27DE missiles, which have an improved radio detonator and warhead, it can also use the older 5V27 missiles, which is quite economic for any army.

The new Pechora is mobile and can be redeployed within 20-25 minutes, compared with three hours needed to move the old version. This is of crucial importance for an air defense system, because air battles do not last long, and the system also needs to evade return enemy fire. The sooner it moves away, the more chances it has to survive until the next battle.

Besides, Pechora-2M has cutting-edge microprocessors, with their service life advanced from 30-40 to 2,000 and even 10,000 hours. Moreover, the new jam-resistant system can successfully cope with enemy ECM (Electronic-Counter-Measures) systems and missiles.
Experts recall that the United States had used Shrike anti-radar missiles against targets in Vietnam. But things have changed since then, and even the sophisticated HARM anti-radar missile is unable to hit Pechora-2M aerial posts because they simply vanish off the screen.

Unlike its predecessor, which had a 26 km (16 miles) range, the new SAM system can hit enemy aircraft 35 km (22 miles) away.

The Pechora-2M features an optronic network comprising one TV channel and one thermal imaging channel, allowing it to attack and destroy aerial targets day and night in conditions of electronic warfare. Consequently, the Pechora-2M can hit F-16 fighters at a 30-km (19-mile) range and larger aircraft at a range of up to 35 km (22 miles).