AirDefense Academy · Contents · Chapter 5 · §5.3 · Nederlandse versie

§5.3 The IADS and combat control (GCI)

How radar, combat control, fighters and SAMs are linked into one system.

Open §5.3 in the academy

The integrated air defence system links sensors and weapons via a chain of command posts. Radar stations feed their picture to a Sector Operations Centre (SOC); several SOCs report to an Air Defence Operations Centre (ADOC) at regional/national level. From those centres fighters are ground-controlled to the target — the principle of GCI (Ground-Controlled Interception).

SECTOR 1 SECTOR 2 SECTOR 3 THREAT RDR RDR SAM SAM CAP (fighter) SOC SOC ADOC regional / national level Legend radar (RDR) / command post SAM site GCI guidance of the fighter
IADS combat control: radars feed the SOCs; SOCs guide fighters (GCI) and release SAMs; the ADOC coordinates between sectors.
Engagement sequence

Russian QRA is GCI-controlled: ground control detects and identifies the target, guides the fighter to visual/radar confirmation, and the SAM layer engages once the target comes within range. Fighter and SAM are complementary, not competing — coordinated via the SOC. See § 6.4.

Implication for the adversary

An IADS forces SEAD/DEAD (suppressing/destroying air defence), terrain masking, stand-off weapons and electronic warfare. Knocking out the SOC/ADOC nodes or the radar chain disrupts the whole system — the weak point is the command structure, not the individual weapon.