The advantage here lies with the subsonic weapon… from fixed wing aircraft the Kh-35 weighs about 530kg (without its solid rocket booster needed for ground or helo launch), whereas the Kh-31 weighs at least 650kgs.
Yes but Kh-31AD is much faster.
The Kh-31 has a range of 70km against a destroyer sized target if launched at relatively high altitude (15km). At sea level the range is about 50km.
The Kh-31 anti radiation missile has a range of 100km because it flys all the way to the target at high altitude and dives on the target. Max speed for both models is 1000mps (1km per second) but average speed for anti ship version is much lower at about mach 2… due to low flight altitude.
I think you’re talking about the Kh-31A, which has a 70km range and 50km at low level, however the Kh-31AD extended range is said to have a range of 100km at high altitude.
The speed of Moskit is about mach 2-2.5 at low altitude. No airlaunched versions are currently available. The original version (SS-N-22 SUNBURN) which entered service in the early 1980s does not fly higher than 300m and is a low flyer all the way to the target. An airlaunched version might fly higher for the early portion of the flight to improve range… 250km is probably possible for this 120km range missile.
Then whats the really heavy missile carried by Su-33s and now to be carried by Su-34s and other platforms?
The only Alpha I have heard of that has entered service is the version of the Club missile that uses a subsonic cruise missile to carry a supersonic warhead and seeker to within 20km of the target area, where the “warhead and seeker” are launched at mach 2.9 for the last 20km to the target… greatly reducing time for defence. Gives subsonic range plus low flight and highg speed last line of defence penetration ability and terminal effects.
yes, thats the one I know about too, but Alpha designation was given to another land attack supersonic missile developed from an anti-shipping missile which was cancelled not long ago.
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