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The
MolniyaMolniya may refer to:* The Molniya , the Soviet military communications satellite.* Molniya orbit, distinctive orbit associated with the satellite....
(now
VympelVympel NPO is a Russian research and production company based near Moscow, mostly known for their air-to-air missiles. Other projects include SAM and ABM defenses. It was started in the Soviet era as an OKB .-OKB-134 Toropov:...
)
R-60 (
NATO reporting nameNATO reporting names are unclassified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
AA-8 'Aphid') is a lightweight
air-to-air missileAn air-to-air missile is a guided missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
designed for use by Soviet
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
. It has been widely exported, and remains in service with the
CIS{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Redirect|CIS}}{{Infobox Geopolitical organisation|native_name = Commonwealth of Independent States...
and many other nations.
History
The R-60 was initially developed for the MiG-23. Work began on the weapon, under the bureau designation
K-60 (
izdeliye 62), in the late 1960s. Series production began in 1973. It entered service with the designation
R-60 (NATO
'Aphid-A').
When introduced, the R-60 was one of the world's smallest air-to-air missiles, with a launch weight of 44 kg (97 lb). It has infrared guidance, with an uncooled
Komar (
MosquitoMosquito is a common insect in the family Culicidae...
) seeker head. Control is by forward
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
s with large rear fins. The distinctive
canardIn aeronautics, canard is an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the horizontal stabilizer is ahead of the main wing, rather than behind them as in conventional aircraft empennage....
s on the nose, known as "destabilizers," serve to improve the rudders' efficiency at high
angles of attackAngle of attack is a term used in fluid dynamics to describe the angle between a reference line on a body and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is moving. In general, the reference line could be any line on any arbitrarily shaped body in...
. The R-60 uses a small, 3 kg (6.5 lb) expanding-rod high explosive
warheadThe term warhead refers to the explosive material and detonator that is delivered by a missile, rocket, or torpedo.- Etymology :During the early development of naval torpedoes, they could be equipped with an inert payload that was intended for use during training, test firing and exercises. This...
. Two different types of
proximity fuzeA proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane....
can be fitted: the standard
Strizh (Swift) optical fuse, which can be replaced with a
Kolibri active
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
fuse. Missiles equipped with the latter fuse were designated
R-60K.
According to Russian sources, practical engagement range is about 4,000 m (4,400 yd), although "brochure range" is 8 km (5 mi) at
high altitudeHigh altitude are regions on the Earth's surface that are high above mean sea level. The pressure and temperature of the atmosphere at high altitude is substantially different than at sea level. These differences can affect living organisms, including humans...
. The weapon was at until recently one of the most agile air to air missiles, and can be used by aircraft maneuvering at up to 9
gStandard gravity, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is the nominal acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface at sea level, defined to be precisely 9.80665 m/s2 . This value was established by the 3rd CGPM...
against targets maneuvering at up to 8
g. A tactical advantage is the short minimum range of only 300 m (328 yd).
Considering that Soviet practice was to manufacture most air-to-air missiles with interchangeable IR-homer and
semi-active radar homingSemi-active radar homing, or SARH, is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems...
seekers,
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
speculated that there might have been a SARH version of the 'Aphid.' However, it is clear that the small size of the 'Aphid' makes a radar-homing version with an antenna of reasonable size impractical, and no such weapon appears to have been contemplated.
An inert training version, alternatively designated
UZ-62 and
UZR-60, was also built.
An upgraded version, the
R-60M (NATO
'Aphid-B'), using a
nitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.Many industrially important...
-cooled seeker with an expanded view angle of ±20°, was introduced around 1982. Although its seeker is more sensitive than its predecessor, the R-60M has only limited
all-aspectAn all-aspect missile is one which is able to track a target no matter which way the target faces relative to the missile. In other words, an all-aspect missile can be launched against a target in a tail-chase engagement, in a head-on engagement, in a side-on engagement, from above, from below,...
capability. Minimum engagement range was further reduced, to only 200 m (218.7 yd). The proximity fuzes had improved resistance to
ECMElectronic countermeasures are a subsection of electronic warfare which includes any sort of electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems like IR and Laser. It may be used both offensively or defensively in any method to deny targeting...
, although both optical and radar fuzes remained available (radar-fuzed R-60Ms with the
Kolibri-M fuze are designated
R-60KM). The R-60M is 42 mm (1.7 in) longer, and has a heavier, 3.5 kg (7.7 lb)
continuous-rod warheadA continuous-rod warhead is a specialized munition that exhibits an annular blast fragmentation pattern. It is used in anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles.-Construction:-Operation:...
, increasing launch weight to 45 kg (99 lb). In some versions the warhead is apparently laced with about 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) of
depleted uraniumDepleted uranium is uranium primarily composed of the isotope uranium-238 . Natural uranium is about 99.27 percent U-238, 0.72 percent U-235, and 0.0055 percent U-234. U-235 is used for fission in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Uranium is enriched in U-235 by separating the isotopes by mass...
to increase the penetrating power of the warhead
The inert training version of the R-60M was the
R-60MU.
Since 1999, a modified version of the weapon has been used as a
surface-to-air missileA Surface to Air Missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system....
(SAM) as part of the
YugoslavThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the second half of World War II until it was formally dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro,...
M55A3B1 towed anti-aircraft artillery system. It has also been seen carried on a twin rail mount on a modified M53/59 armored
SPAAGA self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon is an anti-aircraft gun or surface-to-air missile launcher mounted on a mobile vehicle chassis...
of (former) Czechoslovakian origin. These missiles have been modified with the addition of a first stage booster motor, with the missile's own motor becoming the sustainer. This was done in lieu of modifying the missile's motor for ground launch, as in the case of the US
MIM-72 ChaparralMIM-72A/M48 Chaparral is a US Army self-propelled surface-to-air missile system based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. The launcher is based on the M113 family of vehicles. It entered service with the US Army in 1969 and was phased out between 1990 and 1998...
.
The current Russian dogfight missile is the
Vympel R-73The Vympel R-73 developed by Vympel machine-building design bureau, is the most modern Russian short-range air-to-air missile.-Development:...
(AA-11 'Archer'), but large numbers of 'Aphids' remain in service.
Operational history
On 21 June 1978, a PVO MiG-23M flown by Pilot Captain V. Shkinder shot down two Iranian Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters that had trespassed into Soviet airspace, one helicopter being dispatched by two R-60 missiles and the other by cannon fire.
Several Russian reports affirm the AA-8 was widely used during the 1982 Lebanon war, and it was the main weapon used by the Syrians in air to air combat. Some Russian reports that are not acknowledged by the vast majority of western sources affirm that the R-60 was the most successful air to air missile deployed by the Syrians in Lebanon over the Bekaa Valley in 1982{{Fact|date=January 2008}}. According to Israeli reports, the vast majority of air to air combats consisted of visual range dogfights, and this has been also confirmed by Russian sources.
The Russian reports claimed several
F-4sThe McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States...
,
IAI KfirThe Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir is an Israeli-built all-weather, multi-role combat aircraft based on a modified Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-made version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine....
s as destroyed by R-60s among other aircraft. This has been always denied by Israel as usual, although Israel indeed lost a few F-4s and Kfirs in 1982. The Israelis affirm that SAMs were the only weapons that shot down the few aircraft they acknowledge as lost.
An
Indian Air ForceThe Indian Air Force is the air arm of the armed forces of India. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
MiG-21s used infra-red homing R-60 to bring down the Pakistani Naval
Breguet AtlantiqueThe Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic is a long-range reconnaissance aircraft, primarily designed for use over the sea. It is used in several NATO countries as a reconnaissance and patrol aircraft as well as anti-submarine aircraft. The Atlantic is also capable of carrying air-to-ground missiles...
violating the Indian airspace in 1999, widely known as the
Atlantique IncidentThe Atlantique Incident was an event in which a Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantique patrol plane, carrying 16 people on board, was shot down by the Indian Air Force citing violation of airspace...
.
Operators
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