A Pakistani air defence system installed in one of its major cities, Lahore, was destroyed in a counter-strike by India in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, the Press Information Bureau said in a statement today.

India launched strikes at Pakistani air defence radars and systems at different areas this morning, the government said.

India’s response came after the Pakistani military fired missiles and drones at military installations in 15 cities in western and northern India in a night attack. India successfully intercepted all the incoming threats, the government said.

“Today morning, Indian armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with the same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an air defence system at Lahore has been neutralised,” the government said.

The destruction of enemy anti-aircraft radar and weapon systems is one of the most important steps any nation would take early on during the breakout of hostilities, as it would allow their aircraft to enter hostile airspace without challenge and can rule the skies. This will in turn help ground forces advance with the help of close air support, or CAS.

What Is SEAD

Formally called Suppression of Enemy Air Defence, or SEAD, it essentially means disrupting and destroying enemy air defence systems that could be used to shoot down Indian aircraft. Sometimes, it goes by the acronym DEAD to mean Destruction of Enemy Air Defence.

Photo Credit: PTI

The US is an experienced hand in SEAD missions.

“The criticality of SEAD/DEAD – most importantly the negating of the surface-to-air missile threat – is really a basic tenet in warfare,” says Mike Stuart, Director of Advanced Programs Business Development at the US aerospace and defence firm Northrop Grumman.

“That means freedom of maneuver on the battlefield, and without the freedom of maneuver you’re isolated and you can’t engage when you want to engage,” says Mr Stuart.

History Of SEAD

During World War II, Britain’s air force made the first attempts at locating, suppressing and destroying enemy air defence using aircraft. After their own success of integrating radar, communications, command centres and air defences into a total system during the Battle of Britain, the British adopted tactics to find and defeat similar German equipment, US Navy Lieutenant Commander Michael Paul wrote in a 2008 paper titled ‘Location, Suppression, and Destruction of Enemy Air Defences: Linking Missions to Realise Advanced Capabilities’.

Wellington bombers equipped with radar detection equipment served the prerequisite mission to find the suspected German radar sites. But British researchers understood that radar geolocation was only a prerequisite to suppressing or destroying the threat.

The first trial launch of a HARM (high speed anti-radiation) missile in range-known mode on an F/A-18A, using the onboard target acquisition system to find the range and bearing to the target radar.

They quickly made a device that, when installed in an aircraft, received transmissions from a German radar site, amplified them, and sent them back to it. The targeted radar would receive the retransmitted “echos” and incorrectly display multiple false aircraft targets, which would confuse the operator.

The device, codenamed Moonshine, was installed in a small number of P-82 Defiant “turret fighter” aircraft. These aircraft were the originating designs for electronic attack aircraft that would later become a key part of SEAD missions.

Nonetheless, after specifically designed aircraft completed the job of locating enemy air defences, dedicated jamming aircraft only produced a temporary sanctuary of suppression. The final mission to destroy enemy air defences was ultimately left to aircraft with bombs, Lt Commander Paul wrote in his paper.

Evolution Of SEAD Missions

During the Vietnam War, the US Air Force (USAF) carried out SEAD missions after the North Vietnam Army set up highly effective integrated air defence systems centered on the Soviet-made SA-2 ‘Guideline’ missile.

At the time, the USAF had to quickly respond to the deadly threat, and its answer was to introduce an array of new weaponry and electronic warfare equipment, as well as advanced tactics to neutralise the SA-2 sites, says Northrop Grumman on its introduction to SEAD/DEAD.

The post-Vietnam war era saw the development and employment of advanced anti-radiation missiles, specialised electronic warfare assets, and new air tactics for SEAD operations. In response, the complexity of enemy integrated air defence systems evolved to complicate SEAD targeting and provide resilience to air defence systems.

The last 30 years of air campaigns, such as Libya in 1986 (and 2011), the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Bosnia in 1995, Kosovo in 1999, and to a lesser extent Iraq in 2001 and 2003 – stand as testament to increasingly complex adversary integrated air defence systems and the necessity of effective SEAD air operations as a key enabler during the campaigns, USAF Colonel Joseph Speed and Lieutenant Colonel Panagiotis Stathopoulos (retired) said in a June 2018 report ‘SEAD Operations of the Future’ published by the Joint Air Power Competence Centre.

SEAD Weapons

Since the Vietnam War, anti-radiation missiles have advanced significantly in terms of capability including increased ranges, improved seeker capabilities, and being able to overcome enemy countermeasures (including the simple act of turning the radar off), according to Northrop Grumman.

To protect aircrew on the frontline, it is favourable for anti-radiation missiles to detect the radio frequency energy of a radar and fire the anti-radiation missile outside the engagement zone of the integrated air defence system.

“Everybody’s looking for extended range to preserve a sanctuary for the launch platforms, which is a position where they cannot be shot at, but they can still engage the surface threats or various target sets,” says Mr Stuart, the Northrop Grumman officer.

SEAD In Indian Context

As demonstrated today by destroying an air defence radar and system in Pakistan’s Lahore, India has the capability to strike Pakistani surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites and gain air superiority in the event of a full-scale war.

SEAD missions usually need air-to-ground anti-radiation missiles that sniff radar signals and fly towards the SAM radar site. Electronic warfare aircraft can also jam radar signals to blind SAM operators and then launch an appropriate missile at it.

However, flying SEAD missions is inherently a very high-risk work for combat pilots as they are directly engaging enemy weapon systems that are meant to shoot down aircraft.