Originally Posted by
petit plateau
The whole point of the Russians putting a floating S300 battery with its radars & etc in that location is to emit like crazy, and shoot down everything they can reach over Ukraine or coming out of Ukraine. The Moskva gave the Russians coverage that they could not get from any other naval asset*, or from any available (non-threatened) shore location. The downside of being an emitter is that triangulation is a thing. And then somebody gets a precise ID and more accurate location and bad things happen.
* The other Russian vessels have much shorter range anti-air missile systems and associated radars. There is basically now a very significant hole in the Russian coverage that I am sure is receiving attention by all sorts of people.
Well, that is a tactic, expensive on hulls but it is an option. A continuous emitter is going to be an invitation for the other side to assist in saving on fleet maintenance costs by scratching the skimmer from the fleet. The Russians have AEW capability, sort of, from within their own national boundaries that would seem to be without the risk of loss of hundreds of conscripted crew per target, and the ire from the families about being lied to by the Kremlin.
I really think that the whole Russian fleet should be emitting, it helps the Ukrainians, who could use more help from the Russian Navy much as they have been assisted by the Russian army strategic planning and logistics system.