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Russian and PLA Air Defence System Vehicles |
by Dr Carlo Kopp Text © 2008 Carlo Kopp  S-300PMU 5P85DU TEL |
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Background: The subject of Air Defence System Transporter Erector Launcher and Radar (TELAR), Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) and TransLoader (TL) vehicles receives far less attention in defence analysis than it merits. Perhaps the most famous quote by Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm 'Schnelle Heinz' Guderian is: "Der Motor des Panzers ist ebenso seine Waffe wie die Kanone" i.e. "The engine of a tank is as much a weapon as the cannon". The corollary of Guderian's saying is simply that "the mobility of a SAM or SPAAG system is as important as the lethality of its missile or gun system". Mobility matters for two reasons, the first being mobility or the ability of the system to "shoot and scoot" evading defence suppression weapons, and the second being the system's deployability or ability to redeploy locally, across a theatre, or between theatres. Unlike Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS) of the past which relied heavily on fixed communications landlines, or fixed microwave repeater links, modern systems are linked by radiofrequency, typically microwave or VHF/UHF, datalinks or indeed networks. The principal determinant of the system's mobility and deployability is then the design of the vehicles carrying the system. Broadly air defence weapons can be divided into fixed, semi-mobile, and mobile systems. Fixed systems are typically installed on concrete pads or other hardened or semihardened structures. This strategy of air defence weapon deployment is largely extinct due to the lethality of anti-radiation missiles and other weapons deployed by SEAD/DEAD tasked combat aircraft. Semi-mobile systems are typically moved by road, with launchers and other components carried by trailers, or built as trailers. Such systems will take between 30 minutes and several hours to deploy or stow, and are characteristic of 1960s technology Soviet PVO weapons. Like fixed systems, their survivability has proven to be poor, as evidenced by losses in Vietnam, the Middle East, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Allied Force. Nevertheless, the large number of legacy Soviet systems in use indicates that such weapons will still be encountered. Fully mobile systems may be road mobile, or off-road mobile, the former using wheeled vehicles, the latter wheeled or tracked vehicles. In general tracked vehicles have better survivability than wheeled vehicles against the full range of air delivered weapons, and land force weapons. In general tracked vehicles provide by far the best off road mobility, due to the low surface loading of tracks, the ability to perform pivot turns, and the ability to scale obstacles and cross ditches. The drawbacks of tracked vehicles are often considerably higher operating costs, longer time to repair a broken track compared to a punctured wheel, and usually lower roadspeed. Often tracked vehicles will be heavier than their wheeled counterparts, limiting options in airlift. Where off road mobility is not regarded to be critical, military trucks and tow tractors in the 10 to 20 tonne class have been used most frequently for this purpose, often towing the air defence weapon in a semitrailer or trailer arrangement. The compromise between tracked and standard truck based systems are specialised high off road mobility vehicles purposed designed for the carriage of missiles. The 8 x 8 and 6 x 6 vehicles produced by MAZ/MZKT over the last five decades represent the best example. The MAZ-543 family of 8 x 8 heavy trucks has been used to carry ballistic missiles, ground launched strategic cruise missiles, antiship cruise missiles, air defence gun systems, air defence missile systems, as well as the Soviet High Energy Laser Directed Energy Weapon system. It has also been used to carry or tow a number of different radar systems, and associated mast systems. These webpages are intended to provide a basic reference covering the most widely used vehicles in this application. Resources:
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| Russian
and PLA Air Defence System
Vehicles: |
| S-400 Triumf/SA-21 Growler SAM System |
| S-300PMU1/PMU2
Favorit/SA-20A/B Gargoyle SAM
System |
| S-300PS/PM/PMU/SA-10B/C Grumble SAM System |
| HQ-9/FT-2000
SAM System |
| S-300V/VM/SA-12/23 Giant/Gladiator SAM System |
| S-200 Volga/SA-5 Gammon SAM System |
| S-125 Neva/Pechora / SA-3 Goa SAM System |
| HQ-2B / SA-2 Guideline SAM System |
| ZRK 9K330/331 Tor/Tor M1/SA-15 Gauntlet SAM System |
| KBP Pantsir S/S1 / SA-22A/B Greyhound SAM/SPAAG |
| KBP 2K22M1/2S6M1 Tunguska-M1 / SA-19 Grison SAM/SPAAG |
| ZSU-23/4P Shilka SPAAG |
  S-400 5P85TE2 TEL towed by a 6 x 6 BAZ-64022. |
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