Thanks for the pics! It confirms to me that the Kh-31 is a diver not a skimmer.

So the Chinese are definitely getting the Kh-59MK then, but just not right away.

As for the 285km stand-off attack, TV guidance for a subsonic missile over that distance might be dangerous for the parent fighter. It would have to maintain a fixed range with the weapon for telemetry pretty much all the way to target, and thus expose itself to enemy counter attack, or defences. The obvious option for this would be the active radar and aimed at large RCS targets like ships, thus maritime attack. For land attack at up to 300km, GPS with either active radar or imaging infra-red homing for terminal guidance would be the go, as you could launch and leave it.

Still that is pretty much the technique of the SLAM and SLAM-ER, which uses a man in the loop system with infra red imaging, and GPS/inertial navigation in the midphase. The SLAM-ER is the Navy’s only current SOAD weapon (a weird acronym that stands for Stand off Outside Area Defense system). The acronym pretty much speaks for itself. SLAM-ER has a range of 250km.

Kh-59ME with 285km and a new datalink pod, could pretty much act as a SOAD device. I don’t see that much vulnerability for the launcher if you stand off 285km from the target.

If you consider a Taiwan scenario, the MKK could launch a 285km missile even before it ever passes the coast, while over home territory. The distance across the straits is only 100 to 140km. So yes, the MKK could shoot those missiles right over home territory beyond reach of SAMs (the longest ranged ROC SAM is the 160km Sky king2 or Tienkung 2) and beyond range of ROC interceptors. These interceptors would have to interdict the MKK right over the mainland, and doing that well exposes the ROC defenders to the S-300s and HQ-9s lined up along the coast.

I think the aircraft documentaries in NOVA, shown in PBS channel is the best. One good example is a two hour long documentary that tells behind the story of the X-32 vs X-35 flyoff competition for the JSF.

The stuff on Discovery channel like Extreme Machines, seems catered to the 12 year old. Certainly not as good, as detailed or revealing as the NOVA documentaries, which you don’t see in Discovery. However PBS isn’t shown in international cable TV; Discovery Channel is.

I don’t think you can make the missile much bigger than before due to real estate premiums on the ship. Perhaps a new mix of propellants.

That’s true too. Also refining the aerodynamics can help a bit too.

That is interesting.

Now, I thought before I heard there is a Kh-59MEh. I’m not sure if this is the correct designation, but it seems there should now a new 285km Kh-59ME (not MK) that would have the new 36MT engine and without the booster but still using the TV guided warhead for ground attack, while the MK is the version for ship attack.

This should have quite an obvious potential for a stand off missile.

I think it was accordihg to Fisher, that some Kh-59MK is already at the hands of the PLA. (I will probably take that with a little bit of salt.)

Kh-59MK is supposedly with the SU-30MK3 that uses the Zhuk MSE radar. The radar can detect ship sized targets up to 300km, suitable for the missile’s range.

How did it get from 120km to 285Km? I know the change the engine from a turbojet to a turbofan. Did they also lengthen the missile to hold more fuel?

Would that be the JSC Chernyshev Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise?

Yes, that’s the one.

TMS320C44 is an old and fairly common commercial DSP, still based on 0.72um CMOS production technology. That kind of manufacturing tech dates back to the mid nineties.

http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/tms320c44.html