Russia again gave news of its success in creating its military equipment. This time, Russia has succeeded in making a long-range air-to-air missile, which is named ‘R-37M Vympel Hypersonic Missile’. Mach 6. The R-37 M Vympel hypersonic missile will be installed on the MiG-31 Foxhaund fighter, replacing the previous missile, the R-33 (Amos) missile
The creation of the R-37 Vympel hypersonic missile, which NATO calls the AA-13 Axehead, aims to take down high-value fighter aircraft, with an air attack distance of 260 miles, equivalent to 402 Km, such as Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) or tanker aircraft .
By having the ability to fly at 6 times the speed of sound, the equivalent of 7,350 km/hour fired from the MiG-31 fighter will be difficult to deal with. Moreover, the MiG-31 fighter has the ability to accelerate more than twice the speed of sound (Mach 2).
Based on data from Ukraine, whose military claims to have detected a Russian R-37 M Vympel hypersonic missile during the 9-month conflict. As well as data from external sources, it is assumed that a combination of MiG-31 and Vympel R-37 Russian Air Forces is responsible for many aircraft from Ukraine fell, due to its incompetence, such as the Su-25 Frogfoot fighter and the Su-24 Fencer supersonic bomber with the high speed of the R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile.
Quoted from the Bulgarian Military website on Saturday (19/11/2022), four officers from the Ukrainian Air Force testified that in October, the Russian Air and Space Force [VKS] launched six such missiles every day. The specifications of the hypersonic R-37M Vympel, as quoted from the Military Today website, that the missile weighs 510 Kg (60 Kg warhead), is 4.06 meters long, has a diameter of 0.38 meters, and has a wing length of 1.02 meters.
By having a very large high explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 60 kilograms, the R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile is capable of causing significant damage to large aircraft.
For its target tracking function, the R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile uses semi-active and active radar homing technology from the 9B-1388 radar system. So that when the missile is fired from the plane it will slide towards the specified target, which is guided by the aircraft’s radar.
The R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile will activate its own radar, then lock on once the target is within range. The hypersonic R-37M missile can also engage a fire-and-forget mode that is completely independent of its launch platform. Vympel’s R-37 hypersonic rocket uses a twin solid propellant rocket booster.
While the inertial navigation system collects updates after being fired from the aircraft, as well as the radar seeker activates dual-band to direct it to its target. This hypersonic missile will be upgraded to be compatible with Russia’s fourth-generation fighter jets, such as: Su-30, Su-35, and aircraft fifth generation fighter, the Su-57.
Improved targeting system to ensure pinpoint accuracy, comprises onboard inertia and missile warhead. The Russian newspaper Izvestia claims that the multi-role Su-35S aircraft in 2020 has started using the R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile. again under the wing of the plane. ***
#Russian fighter planes
#R-37M Vympel hypersonic missile
