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Air Defense Materiel and Communications Means
To provide the necessary protective cover for the division, the Army has developed a spectrum of wpns designed to engage enemy aircraft at all altitudes.
SHORAD wpns are employed in support of maneuver forces. They defend personnel and assets against attack of enemy aerial platforms. They are also employed in rear areas to defend air bases, forces, key installations, and other vital assets. SHORAD systems include a lot of weapons; one of them is Stinger.
Stinger's primary role is to provide Air Defense for forward combat elements against aerial platforms. Stinger defends HIMAD, high-priority maneuver units, and high-priority critical assets such as command posts, trains, ASP and POL. Stinger complement other ADA systems when priorities and the situation permit.
The Stinger System is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, self-contained, close-in air defense weapon. Stinger is an infrared or (IR/NUV) seeking, fire-and-forget weapon, allowing the gunner to engage another target or take cover immediately after launch. It requires no control from the gunner after firing. Operations at night or in bad weather are restricted by the gunner's ability to see and identify the target.
The Stinger weapon system is composed of four basic items: weapon round, IFF subsystem, shipping and storage containers, and harness.
Patriot is an AD GM sys designed to cope with the AD threat in the years to come. The Patriot sys is capable of defending assets and areas in support of Army field forces against multiple hostile TBMs and acrft in an ECM environment (jamming and deception).The threat characteristically employs def suppression tactics using TBMs, saturation, maneuver, and ECM. Patriot is effective against aircraft at all altitudes and against several types of TBMs using automated operations with capability for human intervention.
The single, multifunction phased-array radar performs the following functions that required separate radars in older systems: high- and low-altitude surveillance; target tracking; missile tracking; missile guidance.
The missile is command-guided by the radar to a point just prior to intercept. At this point, the TVM guidance mode begins. The radar set sends out a special waveform that illuminates the target and sends an uplink message that commands the missile to open its receiver for detection of reflected TVM waveform energy from the target. The missile encodes and sends boresight errors via downlink messages back to the radar. Guidance computations are then made by the ECS and are sent back through the radar to the missile, via uplink messages. This process continues until intercept, providing a greater accuracy than other types of guidance systems.
The Patriot system provides a coordinated, secure, integrated, battalion-level, and mobile AD system.
The Patriot PAC-3 is intended as a last-ditch "lower tier" defense against incoming missiles at an altitude of 12.5 miles or less.
Theater High Altitude Air Defense
The US Army also is pursuing a THAAD system as an "upper tier" defense to hit incoming missiles at higher altitudes, from 25 to 62 miles.
The mission of the THAAD battery is to protect the force and selected geopolitical assets from TBM attack. THAAD batteries provide the upper tier of a two-tier defense against tactical ballistic missiles by engaging them at long ranges and high altitudes (the Patriot system is the lower tier of defense). THAAD can conduct both endo-atmosphere and exo-atmosphere intercepts using hit-to-kill technology.
THAAD defense systems are alerted to an incoming missile by orbiting satellites with infrared sensors. Once the incoming missile comes within range, the interceptors use ground-control radars to lock onto the target. THAAD's ground-control radar is a high-frequency “X-band” system that operates in frequencies above 10 gigahertz to provide a detailed image of the target. THAAD interceptors are fired from launchers carried on trucks, and guided to the vicinity of the target by the satellites and the X-band radar. Once the interceptor reaches an altitude of about 40 kilometers, the booster portion of the missile falls away, with the hit-to-kill vehicle continuing on an intercept course. When it reaches a certain range from the target, the kill vehicle opens a seeker head. The seeker can identify the warm target against the cold background of space, and its processor uses the image to direct a collision course optimized for the type of target. THAAD uses an infrared seeker because it attacks targets above the weather, while the lower-altitude PAC-3 uses a millimeter-wave radar to locate targets in clouds.
Communications
Squads and platoons must be able to communicate to control and coordinate movement and fires, send and receive instructions, request logistical or fire support, and gather and distribute information.
There are many ways to communicate. Each has its own capabilities and limitations. The primary types of communications available at platoon level are visual, sound, messenger, wire, and radio.
Visual signals are the most common means of communicating in squads and platoons. Arm-and-hand signals, flags, flashlights, and pyrotechnics can be used to rapidly transmit messages and instructions.
Pyrotechnics can be used as signals at any time. In daylight, and in conditions of limited visibility such as fog, rain, or falling snow, they are less effective.
Sound communications include such simple devices as whistles, horns, gongs, and explosives. Sound signals are used mainly to attract attention, transmit prearranged messages, and spread alarms. Sound signals work but only for short distances.
Messengers are fairly secure means of communicating and usually the best way to send long messages that cannot be delivered personally by a commander. Using a messenger, though, is the slowest means of sending information, and it depends on the messenger not being delayed, captured, or killed. Messages sent by messenger should be clear, concise, and complete.
The wire net consists of field wire laid among carrier teams and dismount teams. When possible, the whole platoon is tied together through the use of a wire net. All field communications wire consists of two independently insulated strands twisted together to form one wire. There are several ways the platoon wire net can be set up, depending on whether the platoon is totally mounted or partially dismounted.
Because threat forces have an extensive radio intercept capability, radio is used within the platoon only when messages cannot adequately be sent by other means. When radios are used, transmissions must be short and to the point. Each APC has an AN/GRC-160 radio mounted. Each squad, the platoon leader, and the platoon sergeant have the squad radio AN/PRC-88.
AN/GRC-160. The AN/GRC-160 radio can be mounted in and operated from the vehicle, or it can be dismounted and used as a portable radio (AN/PRC-77). When mounted, it is powered by the vehicle's electrical system. The planning range mounted is 12 kilometers. When it is dismounted, it is called an AN/PRC-77 and can transmit up to 8 kilometers. It is powered by its own battery (BA-4836).
AN/PRC-88. Some units may be equipped with the AN/PRC-88 squad radio. The squad radio consists of two pieces of equipment, an AN/PRT-4 transmitter and an AN/PRR-9 receiver. Both the transmitter and receiver have preset crystal-controlled frequencies that can be changed as needed by the battalion communications platoon.
AN/PRT-4. The transmitter of the squad radio is battery-powered and has two channels. Channel 1 has a range of 1,600 meters. Channel 2 has a range of 500 meters. The purpose of the two channels is to give the platoon an alternate frequency. In addition to voice, the AN/PRT-4 can transmit a tone. This may be used to send a prearranged signal, such as an alert from an observation post. Battery life is about 35 hours for the BA-399.
AN/PRR-9. The receiver of the squad radio will receive Channel 1 and Channel 2, one at a time. It is battery-powered. Two types of batteries can be used in the receiver. The dry cell battery (BA-505U) has a life of about 14 hours, and the magnesium battery (BA4505U) has a life of about 28 hours.