Unpursued First Strike Countermeasures

[Helium]

I have often questioned whether Stealth and aircraft with the First Strike ability are really political and national defence holy grail that many give it credit for. I think that there are relatively effective counter measures to Stealth aircraft that are relatively cheap aswell therefore open to many nations to utilise.

For example;
A satelite orbiting over the enemy country could be fitted with sensors that can detect the launch of say a B2, F117 or even a F22 by detecting the heat exaust of the plane and to ensure that it has detected a military plane and not civilian it could also have sensors comparing the shape/silhouete of the aircraft to a internal database of aircraft (like the remote sensors of the Future Combat Systems program utilise to identify and distinguishenemy ground vehicles from civilian).

I beleive this is credible because there already exists satelites used by the USA and Russia(USSR at the time) that detect the launch of an ICBM over enemy territory by detecting the heat exaust from the missile. Is it not too far of a stretch to think that with better and more sensitive sensors the satelites could be tweaked to detect the launch of a B2, B1 or F22?

This is because the current inventory of First Strike Stealth Aircraft all produce rather large heat exaust compared to WW2 era bombers. Also Scram Jets and hypersonic aircraft produce massive amounts of heat therefore this satelite could be a strong counter measure to these yet to be fielded long range aircraft. The B2 diverts its exaust upwards to lower its succeptability to SAMs, therefore a Satelite is in a perfect position to detect a B2 given it has the required technology. A B1 is a Supersonic aircraft and produces an enourmous amount of heat from its engines aswell thus same case as with the B2. A B52 would be very hard to detect by by heat exaust but its relatively easy to detect by radar given there are no electronic counter measures on board. The F22 would seem to be the hardest aircraft to detect due to it using smaller engines thus smaller heat signature which may be too small to detect from a low orbit satelite, but none the less this aircraft would still find it difficult to make deep strikes in a country without being vulnerable before or after ordinance release aswell as fuel/range constaints, thus limiting it to Coastal First strike capability.

I see this as a strong counter measure to the political effect of First Strike Capability and Stealth. Also in the case of the US, military commanders would be less likely to send a B2 out to attack said country due because the plane is too valuable to loose now more than ever with this new counter measures thus reducing the roles of the B2.

Do you agree such a Satelite would be an effective First Strike and Stealth Counter measure and whether the technology exists to detect these smaller heat signatures?

[Silent Hunter]

Not that many countries have that capability for a start.

Satellites can only cover a 1/3 of the globe, max, from geosynchronous orbit. That excludes the Poles, so a B-2 going over them couldn't be detected.

[Indirect Fire]

Do you agree such a Satelite would be an effective First Strike and Stealth Counter measure and whether the technology exists to detect these smaller heat signatures?

"Give me an ASAT missile, and I'll blind his recon forces by taking down his satellites." - Me


In practicality, no. Also, I doubt satellites can find heat contrails that due to poor infra resolution.

[Triple C]

Tracking down everything in real time without interruptions will be the challenge, I think. Even if the technical capability is there, how many operators do you need if you are trying to find every stealth bird in the sky? Trying to process the sheer quantity of this information will probably be overwhelming.

[Silent Hunter]

That- and there's the rather large problem of actually getting a shoot down.

[Helium]

add

Thanks for all your replys :)

The idea of this counter measure being employed by a country (Specifically China, Russia etc) is as a political weapon to take away American military superiority by almost mooting or severely limiting a major offensive component in its military force and decreasing hyperpower status. I would see this system being unveiled to the world with lots of press conferences as a form of propaganda to announce to the world that 1. We (as a country) are now a superpower because of our ability to challenge US first strike capability and 2. Marking the end of US Hyperpower status and bringing it on par with your country.

I do not think that it would be a problem tracking the incoming aircraft in terms of numbers. Mainly because if it is the US you are fighting (Today the country with the most stealth aircraft/low observability) you are talking about max 20 B2's to track, in reality 16 max, due to some in repair and backup. Although B1's would be harder to track because of no.s, I think there is something like 50-100, but since the Cold War ended I would say closer to 50 considering reduction. But the idea of the system/satelite is to Identify rather then track, once you know when the attack is coming you get your fighters in the air patroling a general area or guarding an air radius around special interests. If even one of those fighters gets to intercept a B2 on its way to its target, it becomes a major news story especially if you get a video of the fighter jet escorting it out of airspace- even worse if it is done by a 1960's era jet- that would be a major propaganda weapon. The idea is that of detected by the enemy, a B2 or B1 is very vulnerable to being shot down by enemy jets and can only rely on its escorts.

Dont get me wrong, getting to detect the launch of a B2, getting your fighter jets to find and intercept it, getting past escorts and shooting it down is virtually impossible. But if you can identify the launch of a B2 or identify a B2 250 miles off your airspace through heat signature you have achieved the hardest part of defeating a stealth plane, getting a general location and heading of the plane. If you know a B2 is coming, 20 MIGs (sent on a suicide mission) spread out over a large area to intercept it and you only need one air to air missile to get past and you have a relatively cheap counter measure to defeat one of the strongest arrows in your enemies arsenal.

But I guess the major reason for having this system is to moot stealth, and to make it be too much of a risk to send your expensive stealth airplane out to do the mission thus weakening the political ans military prestige of the US.

[Ryan Bailey]

In general I have felt that the first strike initiative was of a greater advantage to the agressor willing to inflict the completest defeat pursuant to the said first strike.

Stealth is a great multiplier of this effect together with the principles of mass and synchronisation.

The entire idea is closely related to the total warfare concept which is held as politically unfeasible and/or immoral by present majorities. However I see some wisdom in maintaining & updating plans for all contingencies, in the defence of liberty.