For transonic free stream, sudden performance degradation occurs. For the furthersupersonicrange, performancelossesincreaseslightly withincreasingMach number.
Artillery was gradually replaced by tactical missiles in the defensive role, but the Air Force was too busy building a fleet of long-range bombers and supersonic fighters to be bothered with ground-based air defenses, while Army troops had a clear need for such defenses.
These include: eight sophisticated diesel submarines, advanced SU-30 fighter aircraft, modern air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons, supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and as many as 350 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.