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AWSACS or All-Weather Stand-Off Attack Control System has been evaluated aboard a US Grumman A-6E Intruder. The concept of AWSACS is to be able to feed target and trajectory information to the missile following launch, this allows the launch aircraft to remain well outside the defensive missile and gun perimeter of the target area. This also means that for a missile such as Harpoon precise target data can be transferred to the missile enabling it to hit a specific target rather than merely the largest of the radar blips appearing on its own guidance screen.
Precision Standoff Attack
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AWSACS, a unique all-weather image-forming radar targeting system, combined with modern air-launched standoff weapons, gives strike airpower a decided edge in . . .
Air warfare experts generally agree that, although attack aircraft and their weapon delivery systems have become increasingly effective, so have opposing anti-air defences. In warfare today and in the future, the network of air defence radars and radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and guns protecting important targets – an Industrial centre, a concentration of armour, or a major warship – can extend its lethal coverage to such a distance that attacking aircraft are detected and imperilled far from their objective.
It was different in the 1940s. Then the primary threat to attack planes was from fighters. Surface defences lacked the range and accuracy to pose a serious challenge to tactical airpower.
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