Russian Su-30SM fighter jets will be equipped with the latest electronic jamming SAP-518 stations. The decision was made by the Aerospace Forces according to the Syrian experience. The stations can protect the aircraft from air defense and air missiles. They jam targeting systems and deviate missiles from the assigned trajectory. Military experts believe the stations will considerably enhance the survivability of Russian jets, the Izvestia daily writes.


Russian Su 30SMs to be fitted with SAP 518 jamming pods following Syrian experience 001 A VVS Su-30SM fighter jet
(Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense)


Aerospace headquarters told the newspaper the Syrian experience prompted to equip multirole Su-30SM with SAP-518 jamming stations by the end of the year. They will be delivered in the framework of large-scale modernization and technical re-equipment program of the forces.

Active jamming individual protection station SAP-518 was designed by Kaluga Research Radio-Technical Institute. It protects the aircraft from strikes by modern and prospective surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. The station is specifically effective against missiles with active radar self-targeting systems. It also jams aircraft radars and ground and seaborne air defense.

The latest electronic achievements are used in SAP-518, including powerful broadband active antenna arrays. The station is mounted in two suspended containers on the wingtips. One container carries the receiver to determine emission frequency. The second one holds digital radio frequency memory with a jamming transmitter.

SAP-518 selects the most dangerous targets and produces effective programs to suppress them. The device uses the so-called digital frequency memory technology. Multichannel memory devices can receive and store hundreds of radio signals. The system can thus generate dummy targets which are difficult to distinguish from the real ones. The signals are actually radio portraits of various targets. The system actually misinforms the adversary and it has to spend a major resource to track dummy targets which decreases the aiming efficiency.

Expert Alexey Leonkov believes the jamming stations will considerably increase Su-30SM survivability in the areas of air defense operation.

"The main SAP-518 mission is to protect an individual aircraft. It operates as an antiradar and constantly sends distorted information to adversary radars. It reflects the signal with delay, distorts the distance to the target, as well as speed and angle position. It impedes the radar in detecting targets, determining their parameters and forming the necessary information for the weapons," he told the Izvestia.


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