In the video a drone locates a Strela-10 air defense system on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, and the system is destroyed with a Ukrainian HIMARS. The Strela-10 is a mobile, short-range air defense system built on the MT-LB chassis and is a threat to low-flying fixed and rotary wing aircraft performing close air support (CAS) missions. During Operation DESERT STORM, at least twenty-seven coalition aircraft were hit by surface to air missiles with fourteen aircraft lost. Two of those aircraft, both A-10A Warthogs, are believed to have been lost to Strela-10 systems.

This is a classic example of Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, or SEAD, though the target may have been destroyed, rather than suppressed. This task can be accomplished through physical destruction by aircraft or indirect systems or through deception or disruption via electronic means. During the Vietnam War, the United States employed dedicated aircraft for in this role, usually variants of the A-6B Intruder, the F105F/G Thunderchief configured as a Wild Weasel, or the EF-4C Phantom Wild Weasel IV. These aircraft suppressed or destroyed AAA sites, SAM launchers, and radar sets to create the conditions for conventional bombers to engage their targets.

SEAD also plays a role in Army and Marine Corps doctrine. As an organization which depends heavily on close air support from its organic air arm, the Marine Corps integrates SEAD into fire support planning from the company level up, and it is not uncommon to see company-level fire support planning which employs a firing agency in a SEAD role in order to allow fixed or rotary wing CAS to destroy their targets, thus permitting the ground combat element to advance. In the Army, SEAD normally factors into planning at higher echelons, and artillery systems will engage enemy air defenses immediately behind the point of contact, with long range missiles and Air Force assets targeting systems well beyond the forward line of troops. In this case, we see HIMARS employed in the role, eliminating a short-range air defense threat in order to permit Ukrainian fixed and rotary wing assets to engage targets in support of ground forces.

About the Author

Cam

Cam served as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, deploying to the Horn of Africa and participating in combat operations in Iraq. He currently works in the maritime industry and in the defense sector as an instructor of combined arms planning and operations. An avid sailor, Cam founded and directs Triumph Sailing, a nonprofit that supports veterans and first responders through adventure and fellowship on the water. Triumph Sailing just completed its big yearly event, an offshore race in the Gulf of Mexico with an all veteran crew. You can support the mission and next year's sailing season at Tri-Sail.Org.