New Russian Kh-31PM upgrade

Please don’t post elsewhere, thanks

Doesn’t say what the range is, although it says ‘considerably increased.’ Hmmm; sounds better than the Moskit.

Date Posted: 21-Oct-2004

JANE’S MISSILES AND ROCKETS – NOVEMBER 01, 2004

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Improved Kh-31 to begin state trials in 2005/6
Yevgeniy Letunovsky

Boris Obnosov, general director of Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, has said that he does not regard the group’s new K-31PM and Kh-31AM supersonic air-to-surface missiles as upgrades, writes Yevgeniy Letunovsky. “I would not call this activity modernisation,” he said. “In essence, we are creating a new missile which will be twice as good as the existing designs… I think, that in one or two years time we shall submit it to official state testing.” Given the weapon’s speed and flight profile, he does not envisage that improved ship defences able to counter the Kh-31A will be fielded in the near future.

Two years ago, a representative of the Zvezda-Strela State Research and Production Centre (now part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation) said that baseline design of the Kh-31 gave “ample opportunities for further modernisation. Optimisation of propellant consumption and the missile’s flight path can allow a substantial increase in range while preserving the high mean trajectory speed”. Modernising the passive and active versions of the Kh-31 would improve their capability and make these missiles more competitive in the export market. A year ago, Boris Obnosov said that within two or three years, the group would be able to offer “qualitatively new products”. While the company had declined to provide details of these improved missiles, some information is available from unofficial sources and Russian press reports.

The new Kh-31PM is an improved version of the Kh-31P, a passive-homing anti-radiation missile designed to counter air-defence radars, particularly those associated with the US Nike Hercules, Improved Hawk and Patriot systems. It retains the proven aerodynamic configuration and layout of the Kh-31P, which uses an integral solid-propellant boost motor, followed by a kerosene-fuelled ramjet sustainer motor.

For the Kh-31PM and the Kh-31AM anti-ship variant, the Turaevo Engineering Design Bureau ‘Soyuz’ and the Kartukov Engineering Design Bureau ‘Iskra’ have developed an improved 31DP propulsion system. Suitable for use at speeds of up to Mach 4.5, it has been teamed with an increased amount of internal fuel and a modified control system. These modifications considerably increase the range of the missile, but have minimal effect on its weight.

The Kh-31P is reported to have three optional seeker heads (L-111, L-112, L-113), but for the Kh-31PM the Omsk Plant ‘Avtomatika’ (CKBA) has developed an improved multiband seeker. Designated L-130, this can be used against a wide range of radiating targets, detecting these at a range beyond that of the air-defence system being attacked. The resistance to countermeasures has also been increased. The fuze has also been modified to increase its efficiency.

Developed in parallel with the Kh-31PM, the Kh-31AM is an upgraded version of the existing Kh-31A anti-ship missile. It uses an improved RGS-31 active-radar terminal seeker developed by the Radar-MMS Scientific and Research Enterprise, which offers higher performance and increased resistance to jamming.

– The Tactical Missiles Corporation was set up as the result of Russian Federation President’s decree no.84 on 24 January 2002. During the first stage the following joint-stock companies were included: Turaevo Engineering Design Bureau ‘Soyuz’; Omsk Plant ‘Avtomatika’; Ural Design Bureau ‘Detal’; Kartukov Engineering Design Bureau ‘Iskra’; and Plant ‘Krasny Gidropress’. A second stage of expansion, which began in May 2004, added the Horizont JSC (Moscow); Salyut JSC (Samara); and the Smolensk Aircraft Plant. The State Scientific and Research Enterprise ‘Region’, Toropov State Engineering Design Bureau ‘Vympel’, Bereznyak State Engineering Design Bureau ‘Raduga’ and the Design Engineering Bureau (Kolomna) are also due to enter the joint-stock company.

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