Deep Submersible SAM (DSS)
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But a plane needs fuel and maintenance often.
The Kite can be up their twenty four hours a day.
Air ram turbine can power the radar RADAR and fiber optic cables can carry the data back to the ship.
Planes like the Prowler and the new Growler use a Air ram turbine to power the jamming pods.
Engineer
Major
As you said, planes, which are bad examples because a kite won't have an airspeed anywhere close to 200 kts.
The cable itself is problematic. Like the submersible, the cable will have to withstand high tension, so it must be decently thick. The kite would not only have to lift the radars, but it would also have to lift the cable. The kite would be huge, and a huge kite for carrying large loads requires strong frames, which implies extra weight on the kite, meaning the kite would be even larger.
You would end up with a kite that is the size of an actual AWAC and doesn't fit on a ship. So what is the point?
The cable itself is problematic. Like the submersible, the cable will have to withstand high tension, so it must be decently thick. The kite would not only have to lift the radars, but it would also have to lift the cable. The kite would be huge, and a huge kite for carrying large loads requires strong frames, which implies extra weight on the kite, meaning the kite would be even larger.
You would end up with a kite that is the size of an actual AWAC and doesn't fit on a ship. So what is the point?
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
I think the problem was that in a SAG lacking the luxury of organic or land-based air support, the only aircraft available to you would be helicopters. And lacking a carrier, such a group would only have a very limited number of these helicopters, which will tend to carry a smaller radar than fixed wing aircraft and be more vulnerable to missile attack.
However, wouldn't a massive radar kite show up as a big juicy target to enemy radars? And without even the ability to move by itself, how would it evade enemy attack?
However, wouldn't a massive radar kite show up as a big juicy target to enemy radars? And without even the ability to move by itself, how would it evade enemy attack?
The Kite would be tethered to the ship so it would be in side the missile range of the ship.
The Kite would be made from plastic like Nylon, Kevlar, and Carbon fiber so it would not have a massive RADAR signature.
The only part that would cast a RADAR return would be the Payload.
Pointblank
Senior Member
You still have multiple engineering issues to overcome, such as where are you going to store such a kite when not in use, and the cable attaching the kite to the ship...
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Wouldn't there be a problem since a sub doesn't move as fast as a surface ship and getting it in between of its fleet and the enemy? Also if the enemy is alert once this sub fires a missile it's a sitting duck. This might work better if it were an offshore system and not from a surface vessel. There could be the radar on shore to track targets.
Is it possible to create something like an anti-aircraft mine? Have a system of buoys housing a missile beneath floating out in the ocean. Once it's launched it's too late for the enemy to target the launcher. Again there would be an issue of how to search and target.
Is it possible to create something like an anti-aircraft mine? Have a system of buoys housing a missile beneath floating out in the ocean. Once it's launched it's too late for the enemy to target the launcher. Again there would be an issue of how to search and target.