On Wednesday, June 13, 2012 8:59:57 PM UTC-5, Lil Abner wrote:
> True?????
>
>
http://rense.com/general59/theSunburniransawesome.htm
Actually, no...this is a very uninformed article. The author combines stats from different versions of the weapon to make it sound better than it is, he claims things are tied together that are not, and he just totally wrong on several items.
The topic of sunburn as some sort of unstoppable "carrier killer" comes up all the time, and its actually a pretty silly thought. Its a good weapon, but here are some facts.
The Sunburn was first deployed in 1980...32 years ago. The navy has had 32 years to prepare a defense...and they have. The navy actually bought several from Russia for testing purposes, so there is nothing about them that hasn't been known for a very long time.
The range he quoted for the weapons was for the air launched version only, and the speed he quoted was only for the high portion of the high-low profile. When launched from a ship or ground launcher its range is actually very short, and speed a bit slower. Getting a launch platform close enough to engage a carrier isn't going to happen unless its during peacetime when the carrier isn't looking for it...or if your launch platform is a sub. China's Sovremenny class destroyers would never have a chance to get within 300 miles, let alone the 65 miles they would need.
Any ramjet powered supersonic sea-skimmer is VERY hot and easy to detect via IR. If you lift an IR sensor high enough, like on a Hawkeye or sat, you can detected it well over the horizon (thus extending your reaction time). That 25 second response time only applies to the radar horizon on a ship without off-board sensors. The Soviets always knew this, and the Sunburn was intended for small ASW groups that lack fixed air cover, not for carrier groups (the Shipwreck was for the CVBGs).
Nevertheless, the Navy has...
...added IR seekers to the Standard missile to engage supersonic SSMs over the horizon.
ESSM and RAM were developed with supersonic SSM's in mind, and are now deployed on almost all USN combatants. Both systems react faster, and have fusing and warhead changes that allow them to be effective against very fast targets.
Improved versions of AMRAAM can also engage supersonic SSMs.
Finally, it isn't clear if any have actually BEEN sold to Iran. Iran claims they have some, but China and Russia both deny any such sale has taken place (China hardly has enough for the launchers they have). Iran has conducted launches of ASMs that they claimed were Sunburns, but they were subsonic C-802s. Iran has never test-fired any supersonic ASM.
ASMs from mobile land-based launchers ARE a threat to anything moving through the Strait of Hormuz, but given the terrain of Iran's coastline, it wouldn't be too difficult to clear them all out before transiting through. Keep in mind, those units need to turn on their own radar, to provide a firing solution to their weapon, and as soon as they do that, they announce where they are.