AirDefense Academy · Contents · Chapter 5 · §5.5 · Nederlandse versie

§5.5 Command: the four branches as one system

What makes the air defence an IADS is not the weapon but the automated command that links radar, fighters, missiles and EW.

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The four branches are each worthless without the others: radar without a missile is blind firing, a missile without radar is deaf. The Russian air defence ties them together via a hierarchy of command posts and, since the 2010s, a new generation of automated combat-control systems (ASU) that share the air picture and assign targets to fire units automatically.

The command hierarchy

EchelonCommand post / systemFunction
StrategicCentral VKS command post / NTsUO (Moscow)National air picture, priorities, missile defence
Operational (AFADA)Air-defence division → ADOCCoordination between sectors within the district
SectorSOC / Baikal-1MEHigher ASU node; directs several brigades
Brigade / regimentPolyana-D4M1ASU for the SAM brigade; distributes targets across battalions
RTV regimentFundament-MCollects and processes radar data, feeds the command posts
EW brigadeBylina (RB-109A)Automated control of EW assets

The common thread: Fundament bundles the RTV radar picture and sends it to Baikal-1ME (sector) and Polyana-D4M1 (brigade). Those ASUs fuse the tracks, set priority and assign each target to the most suitable fire unit — an S-400 battalion, a Pantsir or an interception fighter. Bylina meanwhile directs the EW assets that disrupt the attacker and shield the own sites.

AIR THREAT ADOC / SOC sector command post RTV — radar Fundament-M (radar track →) ASU node Baikal-1ME · Polyana-D4M1 fuse · prioritise · assign targets ZRV — SAM S-400/300, Buk, Pantsir Fighter (GCI) MiG-31, Su-35 REB — EW Bylina · jam/cover target assignment target assignment to fire unit GCI guidance (fighter)
Read left to right: the RTV radar feeds the track to the ASU node (Baikal/Polyana); it fuses the air picture and assigns each target to a SAM unit or, via GCI, to a fighter — while the REB jams and protects. The ADOC/SOC at the top keeps oversight of the sector.
Key point

The greatest strength and vulnerability lies in this command. If the chain works, radar, missile and fighter fire as one fist. If a node fails (SOC, Polyana, a key radar), the branches fall back on autonomous operation with far less range and effectiveness. That is why SEAD/DEAD targets the C2 nodes, not just the launchers.