AGM-88 HARM missile on a U.S. Navy aircraft

SEAD (pronounced: see-add or seed), or Suppression of Enemy Air Defences, also known as "Wild Weasels" and "Iron Hand", operations are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defences (Surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA)), primarily in, but not limited to, the first hours of an attack. Navy photo of AGM-88 HARM missile (non-copyrightable) File links The following pages link to this file: AGM-88 HARM User:Avriette/My Images Categories: U.S. military images ... Navy photo of AGM-88 HARM missile (non-copyrightable) File links The following pages link to this file: AGM-88 HARM User:Avriette/My Images Categories: U.S. military images ... The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... Wild Weasel is a semi-official nickname for aircraft of the United States Air Force tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (or SEAD) mission. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging military aircraft in combat from the ground. ... Akash Missile Firing French Air Force Crotale battery Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...

The weapons most often associated with this mission are anti-radiation missiles (ARMs) such as the American AGM-88 HARM and British ALARM. However, a weapon used for SEAD mission can be anything which damages or destroys a component of an air defence system; For example, a Paveway LGB is not a SEAD-specific munition, but when used to destroy a radar antenna it achieves the objective of Suppression of Enemy Air Defence. HARM on a US Navy F-18C Three ALARMs on an RAF Tornado GR4 An anti-radiation missile is a missile which is designed to detect and home in on the emissions of an enemy radar installation. ... The AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-radiation Missile (HARM) is an air-to-surface tactical missile designed to seek out and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems. ... For other uses, see Alarm (disambiguation). ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... A Paveway III seeker head, at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London. ... This long range Radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll[1]. Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine and map the location, direction, and/or speed...

Possibly the most effective type of unguided ("dumb") weapon used during SEAD strikes are cluster bombs, because many SAM sites are dispersed over a fairly wide area, in order to increase the difficulty of inflicting serious damage on the battery, and the relative "softness" of the targets (missile launchers, exposed radars, etc.). In particular, the American AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon is an effective weapon for attacking SAM sites, due to its fairly long standoff range which allows the launching aircraft to avoid being threatened by all but the longest range missiles, and its relatively large area of destruction against soft targets. A US B-1 Lancer releasing its payload of cluster bombs Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground launched shells that eject multiple small submunitions (bomblets) and that primarily hit civilians. ... A Russian SA-4 TEL. Photo by GulfLINK. A Russian SA-8 TELAR. Photo by Naval Expeditionary Warfare Training. ... AGM-154 JSOW The Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) was a joint venture of the United States Navy and Air Force to deploy a standardized medium range precision guided weapon, especially for engagement of defended targets at ranges outside that of standard anti-aircraft defenses, thereby increasing aircraft surviability and minimizing...

In U.S. service, SEAD missions were carried out by tactical fighters such as the F-105G Thunderchief and F-4G Phantom II. Currently the main United States Air Force (USAF) SEAD aircraft is the F-16 Fighting Falcon. These aircraft were nicknamed "Wild Weasels", and often used themselves as bait for enemy defences. On the other hand, the Soviets preferred to use modified stand-off interceptors such as the Mikoyan MiG-25BM and missile-armed bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-22M to destroy targets from a distance, rather than the up-close method. The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a single-seat, supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. ... The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial-warfare branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a modern multi-role jet fighter aircraft built in the United States and used by dozens of countries all over the world. ... The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily), formed the official designation of the air force of the Soviet Union. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Tupolev Tu-22M (NATO reporting name Backfire) is a supersonic, swing-wing, long-range strategic bomber developed by the Soviet Union. ...

In European NATO air forces, the SEAD mission falls mostly to Royal Air Force Tornado GR.4s, Luftwaffe Tornado Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance variant (ECR), and Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) Tornado ECRs. The RAF Tornados rely on the aforementioned ALARM missile and the Italian/German Tornado ECRs employ the AGM-88 HARM missile. The Tornado ECR was designed from the outset as a SEAD platform and is unique in the European NATO air order of battle. Although several European NATO aircraft can carry SEAD weapons, few were designed for, or are specifically tasked with, the dangerous SEAD mission. NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[2] (NATO; French: ; also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance, or the Western Alliance) is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine fighters, which was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Panavia Tornado was produced in three major variants; the strike/reconnaissance Interdictor/Strike (IDS), the IDS-based Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance (ECR) and the Air Defence Variant (ADV). ... The Aeronautica Militare Italiana is the Italian air force. ...

Current SEAD aircraft types

• Panavia Tornado ECR
• Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler
• Lockheed Martin F-16CJ Fighting Falcon
• Lockheed Martin F-117A Nighthawk
• Boeing EA-18G Growler (in development)
• Sukhoi Su-24MP Fencer-F

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine fighters, which was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. ... The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of a 1994 merger between Northrop and Grumman. ... The EA-6 Prowler is the United States Navys and the United States Marine Corpss primary electronic warfare aircraft. ... Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics in the United States. ... The United States Air Forces F-117A Nighthawk is the worlds first operational aircraft designed to exploit low-observable stealth technology. ... The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a carrier-based fighter/attack aircraft that entered service in 1999 with the United States Navy. ... The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name Fencer) was the Soviet Unions most advanced all-weather interdiction and attack aircraft in the 1970s and 1980s. ...

Historical SEAD aircraft types

• North American F-100F Super Sabre
• Republic F-105 Thunderchief
• McDonnell Douglas F-4G Phantom II

DC-10, retired from American Airlines fleet at gate McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. ...

External links

Wikisource has several original texts related to:

Audio recordings and transcripts with comments of actual Wild Weasel combat missions over Vietnam.

• U.S. Department of Defense definition
• Description of SEAD environment over Kosovo
• Discussion of differing opinions on future threats to western aircraft