Libya Has Advanced Russian SAMs
Establishing a no-fly zone over Libya may not be a massive challenge for the coalition trying to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1793, but the operation has nevertheless exposed serious military and political pitfalls.
One of those surprises is the unexpected and elusive threat from a sophisticated surface-to-air missile (SAM) that Libya fielded virtually unnoticed—the NATO-designated SA-24 “Grinch.” Its presence on the battlefield underscores the need for coalition partners to draw on the full spectrum of electronic warfare capabilities to prosecute their air campaign. The missile also poses a latent threat to low-flying cargo aircraft once relief, medical, evacuation and rebuilding missions begin. Expectations are that these much-sought-after weapons will slip into the black market and into the hands of lawless groups that will want to stop aid to any of the sides involved in the Libyan conflict.
The presence—not announced yet—of the jam-resistance weapon was a surprise to U.S. and international military analysts because there have been only rumors of a possible Igla-S/SA-24 sale to Libya and no mention of it in officials sources, such as the U.N. Arms Register. Pictures of the SA-24 have appeared on television since the start of the war, but were not publicly identified by the intelligence community.
“The SA-24, or Igla-S, is an improved variant of the SA-18 ‘Grouse’—or Igla—with better performance, lethality and countermeasures resistance,” says Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies. “It is believed to have a maximum slant range of up to 6,000 meters [3.7 mi.] and a maximum engagement altitude of 3,500 meters. Development of the system appears to have been completed early in the last decade. The SA-24 represents a credible threat to aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles operating within its engagement envelope.”
There is a question about whether the SA-24 systems sold to the Libyans can be removed from their small-truck mounts and used as man-portable air defense systems (manpads), or if they are instead considered part of an integrated system. From the pictures, the weapon’s flexibility is not apparent.
“If you were to ask me which SAMs are the threat right now, I would say the unlocated mobile ones [SA-6 ‘Gainfuls’ and SA-8 ‘Geckos’ on tracked vehicles and SA-24s welded into the beds of pickup trucks] rather than the fixed-site, easily targeted ones,” says a U.S. defense official. “The mobile ones are extremely dangerous—both radar-guided and manpad-based systems.”
Concern over radar-guided, pop-up SAM threats has driven the Pentagon to operate its EA-18G Growlers over Libya. Italy also has contributed radar-locating Tornado ECRs to the coalition operation.
The surviving longer-range SAMs are radar-guided SA-6s (7-km altitude) and SA-8s (5-km altitude). The mobile SAMs are still on the loose, but radar-guided missile systems and their supporting communications and data links are being degraded by an active electronic attack campaign that includes jamming and some cybernetwork penetration activity, say U.S. officials who are analyzing the campaign on a real-time basis. That leaves optically guided and infrared-guided weapons as the main threat to coalition aircraft flying over Libya, which makes the IR-guided SA-24 the most potent current threat.
“This is not an operation without risk,” says the U.S. defense analyst. “We are putting people in harm’s way. [The coalition aircraft] are the only things in the sky right now, so target de-confliction is not an issue for the bad guys.”
Airborne electronic attack and information warfare are being conducted by Navy Growlers in a “stand-in” role and by Air Force EC-130 Compass Calls and RC-135 Rivet Joints. Also participating are EP-3 Aries II and advanced, specially modified P-3s that were designated as patrol utility units before being integrated into standard patrol squadrons as an operational disguise. EC-130J Commando Solo aircraft conduct specialized media broadcasts and other information operations.
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