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Only listing israel, USA and NATO is kinda biased as many countries have SEAD capabilities, at least on paper |
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{{See also|Surface-to-air missile}}
{{short description|Measures to combat enemy aerial forces}}
{{Redirect-several|dab=no|Flak (disambiguation)|Ack Ack (disambiguation)|Anti-Aircraft (video game)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
[[File:DGLC systemen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Artist's rendition of short and long range AA systems used by the Dutch [[Joint Ground-based Air Defence Command]]
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'''Anti-aircraft warfare''' is the counter to [[aerial warfare]]<ref>{{cite book |
Most modern anti-aircraft (AA) weapons systems are optimized for short-, medium-, or long-range air defence, although some systems may incorporate multiple weapons (such as both [[autocannons]] and [[surface-to-air missiles]]). ‘Layered air defence’ usually refers to multiple ‘tiers’ of air defence systems which, when combined, an airborne threat must penetrate in order to reach its target; This defence is usually accomplished via the combined use of systems optimized for either short-, medium-, or long-range air defence.
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Ground-based air defence is deployed in several ways:
* Self-defence by ground forces using their organic weapons, AAAD.
* Accompanying defence, specialist
* Point defence around a key target, such as a bridge, critical government building or ship.
* Area air defence, typically "belts" of air defence to provide a barrier, but sometimes an umbrella covering an area. Areas can vary widely in size. They may extend along a nation's border, e.g. the [[Cold War]] [[MIM-23 Hawk]] and [[Nike (rocket)|Nike]] belts that ran north–south across Germany, across a military formation's manoeuvre area, or above a city or port. In ground operations air defence areas may be used offensively by rapid redeployment across current aircraft transit routes.
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The use of balloons by the U.S. Army during the American Civil War compelled the Confederates to develop methods of combating them. These included the use of artillery, small arms, and saboteurs. They were unsuccessful, and internal politics led the United States Army's [[Union Army Balloon Corps|Balloon Corps]] to be disbanded mid-war. The Confederates experimented with balloons as well.<ref>Spring 2007 issue of the American Association of Aviation Historians Journal</ref>
Turks carried out the first ever anti-airplane operation in history during the [[Italo-Turkish war]]. Although lacking anti-aircraft weapons, they were the first to shoot down an
The earliest known use of weapons specifically made for the anti-aircraft role occurred during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870. After the [[Battle of Sedan|disaster at Sedan]], [[Siege of Paris (1870–71)|Paris was besieged]] and French troops outside the city started an attempt at communication via [[balloon (aircraft)|balloon]]. Gustav [[Krupp]] mounted a modified 1-pounder (37 mm) gun – the ''Ballonabwehrkanone'' (Balloon defence cannon) or ''BaK'' — on top of a horse-drawn carriage for the purpose of shooting down these balloons.<ref>Essential Militaria: Facts, Legends, and Curiosities About Warfare Through the Ages, Nicholas Hobbs, Atlantic Monthly Press 2004, {{ISBN|0-8021-1772-4}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2012}}
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As aircraft started to be used against ground targets on the battlefield, the AA guns could not be traversed quickly enough at close targets and, being relatively few, were not always in the right place (and were often unpopular with other troops), so changed positions frequently. Soon the forces were adding various [[machine-gun]] based weapons mounted on poles. These short-range weapons proved more deadly, and the "[[Manfred von Richthofen|Red Baron]]" is believed to have been shot down by an anti-aircraft [[Vickers machine gun]]. When the war ended, it was clear that the increasing capabilities of aircraft would require better means of acquiring targets and aiming at them. Nevertheless, a pattern had been set: anti-aircraft warfare would employ heavy weapons to attack high-altitude targets and lighter weapons for use when aircraft came to lower altitudes.
[[File:AA-Predictor-Nr1MarkIII-001.jpg|thumb|The No. 1 Mark III Predictor that was used with the [[QF 3.7-inch AA gun]] was a mechanical computer.]]
[[File:Antiaircraft defence Sweden 1934.jpg|thumb|Shooting with anti-aircraft gun in Sweden 1934]]
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After the [[Operation Chastise|Dambusters raid]] in 1943 an entirely new system was developed that was required to knock down any low-flying aircraft with a single hit. The first attempt to produce such a system used a 50 mm gun, but this proved inaccurate and a new 55 mm gun replaced it. The system used a centralised control system including both search and targeting [[radar]], which calculated the aim point for the guns after considering windage and ballistics, and then sent electrical commands to the guns, which used [[hydraulic]]s to point themselves at high speeds. Operators simply fed the guns and selected the targets. This system, modern even by today's standards, was in late development when the war ended.
[[File:Wehrmacht Flugabwehr Airdefence.jpeg|thumb|upright|German soldier manning an [[MG 34|MG34]] anti-aircraft gun in
The British had already arranged licence building of the Bofors 40 mm, and introduced these into service. These had the power to knock down aircraft of any size, yet were light enough to be mobile and easily swung. The gun became so important to the British war effort that they even produced a movie, ''[[The Gun (1940 film)|The Gun]]'', that encouraged workers on the assembly line to work harder. The Imperial measurement production drawings the British had developed were supplied to the Americans who produced their own (unlicensed) copy of the 40 mm at the start of the war, moving to licensed production in mid-1941.
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AAA battalions were also used to help suppress ground targets. Their larger [[90 mm M3 gun]] would prove, as did the eighty-eight, to make an excellent anti-tank gun as well, and was widely used late in the war in this role. Also available to the Americans at the start of the war was the [[120 mm M1 gun]] ''stratosphere gun'', which was the most powerful AA gun with an impressive {{convert|60000|ft|km|abbr=on}} altitude capability, however no 120 M1 was ever fired at an enemy aircraft. The 90 mm and 120 mm guns continued to be used into the 1950s.
The [[United States Navy]] had also put some thought into the problem, When the US Navy began to rearm in 1939 in many ships the primary short ranged gun was the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. While effective in fighters at 300 to 400 yards this is point blank range in naval anti-aircraft ranges. Production of the Swiss Oerlikon 20 mm had already started to provide protection for the British and this was adopted in exchange for the M2 machine guns.<ref>Friedman, 2014 Location 8687</ref> From December 1941 to January 1942, production had risen to not only cover all British requirements but also allowed 812 units to be actually delivered to the US Navy.<ref>Friedman, 2014 Location 8713</ref> By the end of 1942 the 20 mm had accounted for 42% of all aircraft destroyed by the US Navy's shipboard AA. However, the King Board had noted that the balance was shifting towards the larger guns used by the fleet. The US Navy had intended to use the British pom-pom, however, the weapon required the use of cordite which BuOrd had found objectionable for US service.<ref>Bulletin of Ordnance Information, No.245, pp. 54–60.</ref> Further investigation revealed that US powders would not work in the pom-pom.<ref>Friedman, 2014 Location 8620</ref> Bureau of Ordnance was well aware of the Bofors 40 mm gun. The firm York Safe and Lock was negotiating with Bofors to attain the rights to the air-cooled version of the weapon. At the same time Henry Howard, an engineer, and businessman became aware of it and contacted
Mated with the Mark 37 director and the proximity fuse it could routinely knock drones out of the sky at ranges as far as 13,000 yards.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.php |title=USA 5"/38 (12.7 cm) Mark 12 - NavWeaps |access-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150652/http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.php |archive-date=28 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:USS New Mexico Flak Kamikaze Battle of Okinawa.jpg|thumb|right|[[5-inch/38-caliber gun|5-inch]], [[Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun|40 mm]] and [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] fire directed from [[USS New Mexico (BB-40)|USS ''New Mexico'']] at a [[Kamikaze]], [[Battle of Okinawa]], 1945
[[File:Vienna flak tower dsc01594.jpg|thumb|upright|left|One of eight [[flak tower]]s built during [[World War II]] in [[Vienna]]]]
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Another aspect of anti-aircraft defence was the use of [[barrage balloon]]s to act as physical obstacle initially to bomber aircraft over cities and later for ground attack aircraft over the [[Normandy Landings|Normandy invasion]] fleets. The balloon, a simple blimp tethered to the ground, worked in two ways. Firstly, it and the steel cable were a danger to any aircraft that tried to fly among them. Secondly, to avoid the balloons, bombers had to fly at a higher altitude, which was more favourable for the guns. Barrage balloons were limited in application, and had minimal success at bringing down aircraft, being largely immobile and passive defences.
The Allies' most advanced technologies were showcased by the anti-aircraft defence against the German [[V-1 flying bomb|V-1]] cruise missiles (V stands for ''Vergeltungswaffe'', 'retaliation weapon'). The 419th and 601st anti-aircraft gun battalions of the US Army were first allocated to the Folkestone-Dover coast to defend London, and then moved to Belgium to become part of the "Antwerp X" project coordinated from the {{Interlanguage link|Le Grand Veneur|nl}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxZdUuUDMcI |title=Le Grand Veneur Keerbergen operation Antwerp X |website=[[YouTube]] |date=25 January 2014 |access-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115093236/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxZdUuUDMcI |archive-date=15 November 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Keerbergen]]. With the liberation of Antwerp, the port city immediately became the highest priority target, and received the largest number of V-1 and V-2 missiles of any city. The smallest tactical unit of the operation was a gun battery consisting of four 90 mm guns firing shells equipped with a radio [[proximity fuse]]. Incoming targets were acquired and automatically tracked by [[SCR-584 radar]],. Output from the gun-laying radar was fed to the [[M9 Gun Director|M9 gun director]], an electronic analogue computer to calculate the lead and elevation corrections for the guns. With the help of these three technologies, close to 90% of the V-1 missiles, on track to the defence zone around the port, were destroyed.<ref>''Cruise Missile Defence: Defending Antwerp against the V-1'', Lt. Col. John A. Hamilton</ref><ref>''The Defense of Antwerp Against the V-1 Missile'', R.J. Backus, LTC, Fort Leavenworth, KS, 1971</ref>
=== Post-war ===
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The introduction of the guided missile resulted in a significant shift in anti-aircraft strategy. Although Germany had been desperate to introduce anti-aircraft missile systems, none became operational during World War II. Following several years of post-war development, however, these systems began to mature into viable weapons. The US started an upgrade of their defences using the Nike Ajax missile, and soon the larger anti-aircraft guns disappeared. The same thing occurred in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] after the introduction of their [[SA-2 Guideline]] systems.
[[File:Type 91 SAM fire.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A three-person [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force|JASDF]] fireteam practices using a rocket target with a training variant of a [[Type 91 surface-to-air missile|Type 91 Kai]] [[Man-portable air-defense system|MANPADS]] during an exercise at [[Eielson Air Force Base]], Alaska, as part of Red Flag – Alaska]]
As this process continued, the missile found itself being used for more and more of the roles formerly filled by guns. First to go were the large weapons, replaced by equally large missile systems of much higher performance. Smaller missiles soon followed, eventually becoming small enough to be mounted on armoured cars and tank chassis. These started replacing, or at least supplanting, similar gun-based [[SPAAG]] systems in the 1960s, and by the 1990s had replaced almost all such systems in modern armies. Man-portable missiles, MANPADS, as they are known today, were introduced in the 1960s and have supplanted or replaced even the smallest guns in most advanced armies.
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== AA warfare systems ==
[[File:Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard.jpg|thumb|A [[Flakpanzer Gepard|Gepard]] in motion at the 2015 Military Day in [[Uffenheim]]. The Gepard is an autonomous all-weather-capable German [[self-propelled anti-aircraft gun]] system armed with twin [[Oerlikon GDF]].]]
[[File:Bangladesh Army CS AA3 35 mm AA gun with the FW-2 fire control system on display.jpg|thumb|[[Bangladesh Army]] CS/AA3 35 mm twin anti-aircraft gun system along with its FW-2 [[fire control radar]] system behind. CS/AA3 is a Chinese variant of the Oerlikon GDF.]]
Although the firearms used by the infantry, particularly machine guns, can be used to engage low altitude air targets, on occasion with notable success, their effectiveness is generally limited and the muzzle flashes reveal infantry positions. Speed and altitude of modern jet aircraft limit target opportunities, and critical systems may be armoured in aircraft designed for the [[Ground-attack aircraft|ground attack role]]. Adaptations of the standard [[autocannon]], originally intended for air-to-ground use, and heavier [[artillery]] systems were commonly used for most anti-aircraft gunnery, starting with standard pieces on new mountings, and evolving to specially designed guns with much higher performance prior to World War II.
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[[File:RIM-67 intercepts Firebee drone at White Sands 1980.jpg|thumb|A [[RIM-67 Standard|RIM-67]] surface to air missile intercepts a [[Firebee]] drone at [[White Sands, New Mexico|White Sands]], 1980.]]
Layered air defence in naval tactics, especially within a carrier group, is often built around a system of concentric layers with the aircraft carrier at the centre. The outer layer will usually be provided by the carrier's aircraft, specifically its [[Airborne early warning and control|AEW&C]] aircraft combined with the [[Combat air patrol|CAP]]. If an attacker is able to penetrate this layer, then the next layers would come from the [[surface-to-air missile]]s carried by the carrier's escorts; the area-defence missiles, such as the [[RIM-67 Standard]], with a range of up to 100 nmi, and the point-defence missiles, like the [[RIM-162 ESSM]], with a range of up to 30 nmi. Finally, virtually every modern warship will be fitted with small-calibre guns, including a [[Close-in weapon system|CIWS]], which is usually a radar-controlled [[Gatling gun]] of between
=== Army ===
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=== Air force ===
[[File:Aircraft Combat Archer (2565196807).jpg|thumb|A USAF [[Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22A Raptor]] firing an [[AIM-120 AMRAAM|AIM-120]] air to air missile
Air defence by air forces is typically provided by [[fighter jet]]s carrying [[air-to-air missile]]s. However, most air forces choose to augment airbase defence with surface-to-air missile systems as they are such valuable targets and subject to attack by enemy aircraft. In addition, some countries choose to put all air defence responsibilities under the air force.
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=== Air defence versus air defence suppression ===
[[File:AGM-88 and AIM-9 on Tornado.jpg|thumb|[[AGM-88 HARM]] under the fuselage ofn a [[German Air Force|''Luftwaffe'']] [[Panavia Tornado]]
===Insurgent tactics===
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{{Weapons}}
{{Military branches|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}
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