According to Air Power Australia, the West has paid scant attention to a growing problem—the evolution of Cold War legacy surface-to-air missiles into hybrid forms. Defense analyst Carlo Kopp writing in APA’s Notam says that this hybridization—the relatively inexpensive but sophisticated upgrades to stocks of older SAMs—may well “be occurring on a larger scale than previously anticipated.” He says the “more sophisticated upgrades” increase “radar performance, jam resistance, and track capabilities” and even the mobility or kinematic range. Kopp’s Notam offers examples. This is worth noting.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.