Western countries were baffled by India's drone raid, with Pakistan immediately deploying the Hongqi-16, and 77 drones were shot down.

No one expected that the drone raids that had proven successful in the Russia-Ukraine conflict encountered setbacks in the Israel-Palestine conflict, as India launched a drone strike against Pakistan.

Everyone knows that drone tactics have caused quite a headache for the armies of the US and Russia. For instance, in October 2022, Ukraine used the TB-2 drone to carry small bombs, taking off from its homeland and making a long-range strike of 500 kilometers to accurately destroy a refinery in the Ryazan region of Russia, causing fuel supply disruptions in the area for a week. Since then, Ukraine has repeatedly used drones to attack Russia's energy facilities.

Meanwhile, when the US military was on missions in the Red Sea, it was repeatedly targeted by drone attacks from the Houthi armed group. In fact, the Houthi drones have often broken through the Aegis system, and were eventually shot down by the Close-In Weapon System (CIWS).

Why do these seemingly "low-tech" drones cause such headaches for major military powers? The fundamental reason lies in the "generation gap lag" in the battlefield information systems of the US and Russian militaries. From a technical perspective, this type of "low, slow, small" drone generally possesses three characteristics: flying at an altitude between 100-500 meters in the low-altitude zone, cruising at speeds below 150 km/h, and having a radar cross-section (RCS) less than 0.1 square meters - equivalent to the reflection intensity of a medium-sized bird.

However, the main air defense radars currently in service with the US and Russia were designed before drones emerged. Therefore, their original design purpose was aimed at fixed-wing aircraft or cruise missiles flying above 3,000 meters, with speeds exceeding 800 km/h, and RCS greater than 1 square meter.

This technological gap directly leads to the failure of the defense system. Taking the US military as an example, out of 67 drone attacks on bases in Iraq in 2022, the radar system only successfully detected 19, with 12 of them mistakenly identified as birds.

In the drone strike launched by India against Pakistan, Israel-made "Harop" drones were used. These drones are not cheap; each one costs nearly $700,000.

However, in front of China's Hongqi-16 surface-to-air missile system, India's drone offensive did not yield results. This is because the Hongqi-16 uses gallium nitride active phased array radar, which can effectively detect drones flying close to the ground/sea surface, and can precisely identify them without mistaking them for birds like the US military does. Thus, it can effectively counter India's drone strikes.

Nevertheless, the cost of the Hongqi-16 is still too high. Next time, Pakistan should consider purchasing large-scale drone jamming equipment from China.

India-Pakistan conflict intensifies

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831696912354308/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the views of the author.