Lockheed Martin is working to upgrade its advanced aegis combat system to detect emerging threats such as hypersonic weapons and drones, defense magazine reported recently on its website.
Aegis system is an anti-missile combat system that has been tested in real combat. It has since developed land-based versions and is increasingly being deployed in strategic allied locations.
So why is the U.S. military upgrading its aegis system? What improvements will aegis make in the future for hypersonic weapons and drone fleets?
“The choice of aegis to target these two types of weapons as an improved direction is an inevitable response to a real threat. Currently, hypersonic weapons have been deployed in many countries, posing a great threat to the us military. And drones are proliferating around the world, and they’re becoming more and more threatening.” Military commentators akira male said, “‘ the aegis system mainly deal with the traditional fixed wing aircraft, cruise missiles and anti-ship missile, most of these traditional target speed is subsonic or within 2 times the speed of sound,” aegis “system to be able to deal with, but for 2 to 3 times the speed of sound of anti-ship missiles, it has some support, let alone is more than five times the speed of sound of hypersonic weapon. Uavs, on the other hand, have small radar reflectance, low flight altitude and are not typical targets for aegis systems. So upgrading is a last resort.”
Aegis comprehensive air defense capability is very strong
Aegis combat system originated in the 1960s, is the most important surface ship integrated combat system in active service of the U.S. navy, full name is air early warning and ground integrated system. Its abbreviation happens to be the AEGIS of Greek mythology, so it is also translated as AEGIS. The americans wanted it to be effective against attacks from all sides, providing an impenetrable shield for the fleet.
Technically, the aegis system represents the highest level of early warning detection and maritime defense operations.
“The aegis system is the world’s most sophisticated integrated air defense system developed by the United States and is currently at baseline 9.” Akira male sea, aegis system by the “standard” two-thirds of missile series, multi-function phased array radar, weapon control system, fire control system, transmission system, and command and control system of main advantage is that the reaction time is short, strong anti-jamming capability, high reliability, large power, can deal with multiple objectives, can realize the all-weather, the whole airspace operations, can effectively deal with the incoming of high-performance fighter and sea-skimming missiles.
“The most important and most powerful landmark in aegis is the AN/spy-1 phased array radar, which has led to the aegis system. From the news, this is the focus of future upgrades.” “Mr. Akira said.
It can be said that the AN/spy-1 series phased array radar is the heart of the aegis system and the main early-warning and detection system for aegis ships.
Working in the s-band, the radar has a maximum range of about 400km for air search and can simultaneously monitor 400 targets and automatically track 100 targets.
According to the data, the aegis system has a fast response speed. It only takes 0.05 seconds for the main radar to change from search mode to tracking mode, and it can effectively deal with the supersonic anti-ship missile that is flying over the sea. Second, strong anti-interference performance, can work normally under severe electronic interference environment; Third, it has a powerful counter-attack capability. The combat system has a strong firepower, which can comprehensively command all kinds of weapons on the ship, intercept multiple targets from the air, water and underwater at the same time, and automatically evaluate the target threat, and give priority to destroy the target with the greatest threat to itself. Fourth, it is highly reliable and can work continuously at sea for 40 to 60 days without logistic support.
New weapons threaten to overwhelm aegis
Currently, among all kinds of new concept weapons, hypersonic weapons and drones pose the most realistic threat. Russia’s hypersonic weapons are about to be deployed, and groups of drones have been used.
Last year Russian officials announced that it had successfully test-fired the dagger hypersonic missile, which it claimed could break through any anti-missile system in the world. The latest news is that Russia’s su-57 stealth fighter will be equipped with a new hypersonic missile of a similar size to the dagger.
Russian air defense systems in Syria spotted 13 small uavs approaching Russian military installations in the early morning of January 6, 2018 local time. Russian radio technology forces managed to take control of six uavs. The remaining seven were shot down by armors’ s-type anti-aircraft missile systems operating day and night. While it’s not clear whether these drones form swarms, what is clear is that drone “group” attacks are already being used on the battlefield.