METHODS ASSESS THE NEED FOR THE ELECTRONIC-WARFARE AIRCRAFT QUANTITY IN STRIKE AIRCRAFT COMBAT MISSIONS

Reducing the loss of strike aircraft in the course of performing combat missions can be ensured by the use of electronic warfare aircraft and the establishment of active barriers to enemy ground combat vehicles. In order to cover strike aircraft aircraft, anti-aircraft missile complexes, the electronic warfare aircraft should be part of the combat aircraft of the strike force. Radioelectronic obstacles that are emitted by the airborne aircraft complicate the detection of strike aircraft covered aircraft, but allow the enemy's anti-aircraft vehicles to detect and strike the electronic warfare aircraft. It is possible to reduce or eliminate the losses of the electronic warfare aircraft if they are used to set obstacles to the means of control and shooting of the enemy air defense system in the strike aircraft flight band, but outside the zones of damage to the anti-aircraft missile complexes. Therefore, in the course of preparation and conduct of combat operations in the air, there is a need to assess the required number of electronic warfare aircraft for the strike aircraft combat missions. The most advanced developments in this area do not allow such calculations, which raises the problem of finding a methodology for assessing the number of electronic warfare aircraft needed to perform combat strike aircraft missions. The purpose of the article is to formulate a methodology that allows quantifying the losses and the number of electronic warfare aircraft needed for combat strike operations. In the methodology, when estimating the required number of electronic warfare aircraft (EWA), the basic conditions for the performance of combat missions by attack aircraft over enemy territory are consistently taken into account. Estimations are given of the required number of EWA aircraft, showing the possibility of using the technique to find rational applications for EW aircraft in the current conditions of armed combat in the air.