big toothbrush
New Member
at current state of the art subsonic SSM is indeed more efficient than supersonic one.
1) supersonic SSMs have to fly a high trajectory to maintain long distance trip, coz at low altitude air is much more dense than at high altitude. supersonic SSM will run out its fuel very soon when flying low trajectory due to resistance from air.
any high altitude object is easy target for SAM. the higher you are means you are above the horizon to farer enemy, enemy could detect you earlier, and have more reactive time.
while subsonic SSM could have a whole trip low-altitude flying. without support from airborne sensors, you can't detect it untill the missile got close to a distance that 30~50km far from you. this is the average horizon view range for shipborne radars.
2) supersonic SSMs have more obvious IR signature and bigger RCS than subsonic SSMs', which means the latter one would have less chance to be detected.
3) supersonic SSMs can't fly as low as subsonic SSMs even in terminal phase. supersonic SSMs' high speed causes stochastic high pressure from air. trajectory shiver would happen, plus the high speed, supersonic SSM is very easy to crush with water if it flys as low as a subsonic SSM.
normally a supersonic SSM flys 30m high in terminal phase and only reduce to 5m in the last 1km of the trip. while a subsonic SSM flys 3~5m high in terminal phase. this also mean the latter one would have less chance to be detectd and shot down. this also mean the latter one would have less chance to be detectd and shot down.
4) supersonic SSM's seeker has to stand a more atrocious working environment than subsonic SSM's seeker does. thus even if their seekers have the same size apertures, the latter one's would have more chance to lock on target.(actually in most cases supersonic SSM's seeker has smaller aperture coz it has to save space to carry much more fuel)
5) supersonic SSM's reflected radar waves have more obvious doppler frequency shift than subsonic's coz supersonic SSM has higher relative speed to enemy's radar. it means it's more easy to pick supersonic SSM's signals from background disturbed signals such as radar waves reflected by water.
most time you can lock a supersonic SSM once it's above horizon. but it's very hard to lock a stealthy subsonic SSM. you can't continuously track it coz its signatures are very weak and always hide in the background disturbed signals. you can catch its sinatures, but brokenly. those are not enough to support a lock process. so when the time you successfully lock a subsonic SSM and launch the interceptive SAM, the incoming SSM is almost only 20~ 30km away from you. the reactive time left to you is actually always short than some supersonic SSMs'.
conclusion is subsonic SSMs will be more deadly than supersonic SSMs untill above problems to be solved. and this is also the reason why american navy hasn't used any supersonic SSM in battle yet.
1) supersonic SSMs have to fly a high trajectory to maintain long distance trip, coz at low altitude air is much more dense than at high altitude. supersonic SSM will run out its fuel very soon when flying low trajectory due to resistance from air.
any high altitude object is easy target for SAM. the higher you are means you are above the horizon to farer enemy, enemy could detect you earlier, and have more reactive time.
while subsonic SSM could have a whole trip low-altitude flying. without support from airborne sensors, you can't detect it untill the missile got close to a distance that 30~50km far from you. this is the average horizon view range for shipborne radars.
2) supersonic SSMs have more obvious IR signature and bigger RCS than subsonic SSMs', which means the latter one would have less chance to be detected.
3) supersonic SSMs can't fly as low as subsonic SSMs even in terminal phase. supersonic SSMs' high speed causes stochastic high pressure from air. trajectory shiver would happen, plus the high speed, supersonic SSM is very easy to crush with water if it flys as low as a subsonic SSM.
normally a supersonic SSM flys 30m high in terminal phase and only reduce to 5m in the last 1km of the trip. while a subsonic SSM flys 3~5m high in terminal phase. this also mean the latter one would have less chance to be detectd and shot down. this also mean the latter one would have less chance to be detectd and shot down.
4) supersonic SSM's seeker has to stand a more atrocious working environment than subsonic SSM's seeker does. thus even if their seekers have the same size apertures, the latter one's would have more chance to lock on target.(actually in most cases supersonic SSM's seeker has smaller aperture coz it has to save space to carry much more fuel)
5) supersonic SSM's reflected radar waves have more obvious doppler frequency shift than subsonic's coz supersonic SSM has higher relative speed to enemy's radar. it means it's more easy to pick supersonic SSM's signals from background disturbed signals such as radar waves reflected by water.
most time you can lock a supersonic SSM once it's above horizon. but it's very hard to lock a stealthy subsonic SSM. you can't continuously track it coz its signatures are very weak and always hide in the background disturbed signals. you can catch its sinatures, but brokenly. those are not enough to support a lock process. so when the time you successfully lock a subsonic SSM and launch the interceptive SAM, the incoming SSM is almost only 20~ 30km away from you. the reactive time left to you is actually always short than some supersonic SSMs'.
conclusion is subsonic SSMs will be more deadly than supersonic SSMs untill above problems to be solved. and this is also the reason why american navy hasn't used any supersonic SSM in battle yet.
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