Mostly intact StormShadow missile intercepted and analyzed

In the morning of July 4, 2023, Russian and foreign military-technical portals were flooded with photos of large elements of the airframe and the internal workings of the British tactical cruise missile Storm Shadow, intercepted by Russian anti-aircraft missiles in the Berdyansk operational area. Judging by the minimal damage to the fuselage and the fracture in the center of the hull, it looks like the Storm Shadow was intercepted either by the light high-speed 57E6 surface-to-air missile (with a warhead weighing 20 kg) of the Pantsir-S1/SM surface-to-air missile system or the 9M338K (RZV-MD) missile of the Tor-M2U SAM system. The most interesting nuance in this case, however, is the almost complete preservation of the critical onboard electronic equipment of the intercepted Storm Shadow missile. In particular, the following was retained: the missile’s inertial navigation unit, the GPS correction module (along with an interference-shielded antenna with a narrow beam pattern and lower hemisphere shielding), and the infrared correlation and guidance sensor used during the terminal section of the trajectory; infrared-signature-guided target selection controller utilizing an IR sensor, used from a distance of about 20-15 km from a target (depending on the size and the thermal signature); the power controllers for the avionics and the missile’s battery; the digital fuel supply circuit to the Turbomeca Microturbo TRI 60-30 turbojet engine; as well as design features of the shielding integrated in the tail part of the engine nacelle. The analysis by specialists of the Central Research Institute of the Aero-Space Force of the Russian Ministry of Defence and by various Russian military-industrial companies of the peculiarities of construction, the gain of the GPS antenna’s interference protection in a particular angle of the radiation pattern will allow to define the level of interference immunity of the product under the interference influence of domestic complexes of electronic countermeasures, non-directional as well as directional. As a result it can be an excellent aid in the development of new modifications of ground-based and (preferably) airborne radio-electronic defence means, covering the frequency bands of 1, MHz (L1) and 1,227.6 MHz (L2). Analysis of the type and the generation of the matrix photodetector of the infrared correlation and targeting sensor used during the terminal section of the trajectory, as well as the assessment of its operating range (medium or long-wave 3-5 and 8-12 micrometer bands, respectively) will allow to determine its effective range against heat-contrast targets in conditions of high dustiness and smoke in the atmosphere, and also when having to deal with a heated underlying surface, when the target object barely contrasts against the surrounding environment. In particular, in difficult weather conditions and smoky atmosphere the infrared wave permeability in the 8-12 μm range is much higher than in the 3-5 μm range. Moreover, the surviving elements of the glider and the wing, to wit, the radio absorbing materials, can be placed in an anechoic chamber, which will allow even more accurate determination of the effective reflective surface of the product from different irradiation angles and in different wavebands corresponding to the radar systems included in the air defense systems of the Russian Aero-Space Force.