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AA-9 AMOS

The R-33 long-range missile was created for arming MiG-31 fighter-interceptors. The AA-9 NATO Amos was designed to supplement thelook down/shoot capability of the MIG-31 Foxhound. It is also an alternative weapon for the SU-27 Flanker. The AA-9 may incorporate semi-active radar/inertial midcourse guidance with active radar terminal guidance bringing it into the same class as the US Navy's AIM-54 Phoenix. The AA-9 may also be available in a passive radar homing version designed to attack AWACS. It became operational in 1980 and is capable of engaging SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft, B-52 and B-1 bombers, aircraft of front and transport aviation, and also helicopters and cruise missiles. The R-33 may be used at any time of day, under any weather conditions, in the presence of interference and jamming to engage targets flying against earth and water surfaces.

The missile is made in a normal aerodynamic scheme and has a cruciform configuration. Lifting surfaces of the R-33 are made with a low aspect ratio and two control surfaces are folding for its semi-recessed accommodation beneath the platform's fuselage. Control and stabilization in three angles are accomplished with the help of four mechanically unconnected (differential) aerodynamic surfaces activated by gas drives. The missile is equipped with a semiactive radar homing head that locks onto a target on the trajectory. Guidance of the R-33 to a target is a combination: inertial in the initial phase and homing in the terminal phase.

The R-33 is the first Russian air-to-air missile to use an onboard digital computer, which has stable characteristics compared with analogue devices. It is fitted with an active radar proximity fuze and impact fuze as well as with an HE-fragmentation warhead.

On August 28, 1978 for the first time the flight experiment to simultaneously defeat four radio-controlled targets with missiles was conducted with the R-33 fired from the MiG-31 interceptor with the weapon control system (SUV) "Salon" equipped with the BRLS (FAR) - phased antenna antenna.

The leading designer, the winner of the Lenin Prize, the winner of the Russian Government Award, winner of the Higher Prize Soviet Schools, Distinguished Designer of the Russian Federation - Advisor Deputy Director-General for Research and Development, Yu.K. Sakharov, appointed at the end of the GSLI by the order of the Minister Soviet aviation industry Kazakov V.A. from 19 November 1980 deputy chief designer of the Vimpel plant.

During this period, the MiG-31 interceptor with R-33 missiles was in the final phase of the State Joint Flight Trials (GSLI), during which this very complex and technically important experiment was carried out. The challenge was confirm the ability of a new generation of aircraft to effectively hit missiles long-range four air targets at the same time, flying in different modes.

On that day, August 28, the chairman leading the experiment State Commission on GSLI was twice Hero of the Soviet Union Air Marshal Savitsky Yevgeny Yakovlevich. The experiment began on his team. About 20 aircraft were brought into the air. Planes took off, radio-controlled targets and escort planes. Four prototype R-33 missiles fired of one fighter, hit all four targets from the first Times. This experiment summed up the 12-year the hard work of the company's team creation of the country's first long-range missile for the MiG-31 interceptor aircraft.

R-33S / Izedliye 520

As reported in the May 2018 issue of Air Forces Monthly in the article " One of a Kind," the modification "R-33S ("product 520") is equipped with a nuclear warhead". The letter "S" in the name of the R-33S missile comes from the word "special". Those who are in the know will understand ["special" is used to denote a nuclear store]. There is no mention of any change in the missile's homing head type. Consequently, the R-33S is assumed to have a semi-active homing head.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) released footage showing MiG-31BM interceptors being loaded with long-range air-to-air missiles as part of the third phase of its non-strategic nuclear weapons exercise. The release in the context of a training exercise for the deployment and use of tactical nuclear weapons suggests that the missiles could be equipped with nuclear warheads. The missile being loaded was identified as the R-33 (NATO classification: AA-9 Amos), which is capable of intercepting various aerial targets, including low-flying cruise missiles, at speeds up to 3,000 kph. The Soviet Union developed the missile primarily to take down large high-speed targets such as the SR-71 Blackbird, the B-1 Lancer bomber, and the B-52 Stratofortress.

It was claimed that it could only use a conventional high-explosive warhead weighing 55 kg, with a total starting weight of 419 kilograms. At the same time, what is interesting, the launch range of this missile, depending on the modification, varies in the range of 120-160 kilometers, and the declared probability of hitting the target with one missile is 0.65. In other words, in order to be guaranteed to shoot down one air target, pilots need to launch two P-33 at once, although a maximum of six such missiles can be hung on the MiG-31 interceptor.

"Until this moment, there were no publicly available reports that the Russian Federation maintains nuclear warheads for air-to-air missiles. And even if it was kept, it would be an absolute anachronism, since this kind of "special ammunition" is designed to hit air targets that fly in dense formation, which is unlikely to happen in the conditions of modern hostilities. Therefore, on the one hand, one can question the very fact that the Russians have "special ammunition" for air-to-air missiles of the R-33 type. On the other hand, the very fact that the Russian military tried to demonstrate the possible use of this type of weapon should be recorded."

Low observability has to be fine-tuned to defeat adversary systems as they establish and hand-off tracks and zero in on fire control solutions. Not much will prevent detection by long-range, low frequency radars used for initial detection. But it takes much more than a blip on a “Tall King” radar to home in on a stealth aircraft. Stealth breaks up the kill-chain by removing, reducing, or obfuscating a significant percentage of shorter range detection opportunities. The break of the kill chain is that even if the aircraft is detected by surveillance radar, it will not be easy to be engaged by a fire control radar, which usually operate in the X-band (8 – 12 GHz) and in the Ku-band (12 – 18 GHz) bands. Hence the seeming paradox that as interceptors narrow the range to a stealth aircraft, the precise location of the target becomes more difficult to determine.

The United States deployed several nuclear tipped air-to-air missiles during the Cold War, but all have been retired. The AIR-2 (formerly known as the MB-1) was first test-launched in 1956 and became operational in January 1957. On July 19, 1957, a Genie was launched at 18,000 feet from an F-89J interceptor and detonated over Yucca Flats, NV with 1.5 kiloton yield. It was the first and only test detonation of a U.S. nuclear-tipped air-to-air rocket. The AIM-26 Falcon was a guided missile that used radar or infrared guidance to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft with a W54 nuclear warhead (0.25 kiloton yield). It had a conventional version as well.

The F-108 program (cancelled by OSD in September 1959) included development of the ASG-18 radar and its accompanying nuclear tipped GAR-9 missile (later designated AIM-47A). The Hughes ASG-18/AIM-47A combination became part of the Lockheed YF-12A interceptor, first publicly displayed on 30 September 1964. The AIM-47 served as the basis for the AIM-54 Phoenix, and a nuclear-armed version of the AIM-54 was planned at some point. The AIM-54 "Phoenix" was the largest AAMs ever to enter US service. The AIM-54 Phoenix was so far the only very long-range air-to-air missile in service with the US armed forces, and was exclusively used by the US Navy's F-14.

Some Soviet-era air-to-air missiles were known to feature dual conventional and nuclear warhead capability, in alignment with the Cold War era doctrine. However, so far, Russia has never officially acknowledged the existence of nuclear warheads for air-to-air missiles. A nuclear warhead may be the only option if adversary stealth renders ineffective the active seekers of long-range missiles such as the R-33 and R-37. Russia’s only option would be to launch air-to-air missiles toward the general target coordinates, relying exclusively on inertial navigation to bring the missiles to the target vicinity and then detonate the nuclear warheads which would destroy any aircraft in the area.

In October 1991, the state design bureau of a new long-range missile, product 520, the successor to the R-33 missile, was completed. After the R-33 missile was transferred to serial production, the Vympel team actively took up the development of product 520, specified by the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR as a variant of the R-33 missile back in 1968. Product 520 was to differ significantly from the basic R-33 missile in its increased launch range, greater warhead weight, a more advanced control system, increased flight time and a new propulsion system. In essence, this was the development of a new long-range missile.

At the request of the Customer, it was to be placed in the same places as the R-33 missile (in the niches of the MiG-31 aircraft) and. despite the increased mass and different moment of inertia compared to the R-33 missile, eject from the AKU-410, for which this ejection device must be modified for use with both the R-33 and the 520 missile.

The team of designers, technologists, manufacturers and testers of Vympel carried out this complex development at a high pace, spending half the time than on the development of the R-33 missile. If the development of the first domestic long-range missile R-33 was carried out for about 12 years, then the development of the 520 was completed in 6 years (from 1982 to 1988). The work was carried out under the strict control of the Customer and the Ministry and went, as they say, along the "green light" without serious delays. But, however, after the 2nd Main Directorate of the Ministry of Aviation Industry approved the layout of the 520 product with a new solid-propellant rocket engine.

The fact is that the Chief Engineer of the Main Directorate, Glazyrin B.N., insisted on unification of the engine from the R-33 missile, citing the fact that in the technical requirements for the R-33 missile, product 520 was described as a variant of the R-33 missile. Not wanting to understand that product 520 should have higher ballistic characteristics with a slightly increased mass and different aerodynamics, which requires the use of a solid-propellant rocket engine with increased energy compared to the R-33 missile, but striving to maintain the previous production base in the Kazan MKB Soyuz of Chief Designer Zubets P.F., the Main Directorate had great difficulty accepting reports on the appearance of product 520 with a new engine.

Several nervous meetings were held with the head of the 2nd Main Directorate of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, Bolshakov S.M., who finally approved the layout of the 520 product, and a decision was made to develop a special solid propellant rocket engine for the 520 product, which was assigned to the Moscow OKB Iskra, headed by the chief designer Kartukov I.I. Soon the technical documentation was developed, the required number of prototypes were manufactured, ground tests were conducted and flight tests were started, even before the completion of which a decision was made to transfer the technical documentation to the serial plant for preparation of production.

"Vympel" was firmly committed to further cooperation with the Dolgoprudny Machine-Building Plant (DMZ), which was successfully carrying out serial production of the R-33 missile, especially since the missiles are of the same class, approximately the same dimensions, both are made of titanium alloys, the development of which took a lot of effort and time at DMZ.v However, by order of the MAP No. 325 of 06/25/1986, machine-building plant P.O. Box Yu-9765, located in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, was connected to prepare for serial production of article 520. How is this possible, since assigning DMZ a new job would seem to be the most rational decision. An appeal to the MAP with our proposal to connect DMZ to serial production of article 520 instead of P.O. Box Yu-9765 did not yield any results. And on June 10, 1986, the technical documentation for article 520 was sent to P.O. Box Yu-9765. And after January 1, 1987, a group of Vympel representatives, including the author of these lines, Zakharov Yu.K., head of the design department, Petrov Yu.I., and chief technologist, Ivanov A.A., visited the machine-building plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur to get acquainted and resolve issues that the specialists had when reviewing our technical documentation. And only after meeting with the plant director, Petrov AM, chief technologist, Fedorov F.I., and the management of the enterprise, did it become clear why the mechanical plant in distant Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and not DMZ, received preference.

The reason turned out to be circumstances that were not openly discussed, but which raised the prestige of our enterprise. It turns out that for the serial production of product 520, it was decided to build a specialized plant with a closed manufacturing cycle. According to the explanation of the plant director, Petrov AM, the task was to provide each MiG-31 fighter with the maximum ammunition load of article 520. And, considering that after the completion of the first stage of the GSI of the MiG-31-33 complex with article 520, a decision was made to modify the entire MiG-31 fleet and produce new fighters for use on them of article 520 (the fighter received the index MiG-31 B (BS)), a very large number of articles were required, for the manufacture of which a unique plant was built, which was an independent unit of the famous aircraft plant named after Yu. A. Gagarin in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Arriving at the plant, which was still being completed, visitors saw a huge territory, fenced with a high fence, inside which, on powerful, almost 10-meter-high reinforced concrete piles, there was a huge roof with several slopes and glazing. Underneath it, surrounded by partitions, were production areas ranging from procurement and metalworking to assembly and testing. Large metal-cutting machines and welding equipment were delivered and installed. And next to this giant there was a separate multi-story building, where the divisions of the serial design department (SKO), the chief technologist department, the plant management, various technical services and warehouses were located.

The director of the plant AM Petrov enthusiastically told about how decisions were made to build such a unique plant, about how it was founded, how the Minister of the Aviation Industry I.S. Silaev outlined the prospects for creating a unified industrial zone in this region with the organization of production of component units to ensure serial production of product 520. The stake was made on the potential of the workforce in the region.

The director's office was original and unusual. On the huge wall of the office there was an electronic screen, as the director said, similar to the screen in the TsUP in the city of Korolev. The screen should track the movements of manufactured parts and units, as well as the state of important organizational issues. All this information resembles a moving network schedule, allowing to promptly solve important production issues.

However, in reality, this project was not realized. At the beginning of the perestroika period, the doctrine of development of the aviation industry and armament of the army was revised, the needs of the Air Force were sharply reduced. The construction of a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur specifically for serial production of product 520 lost its meaning and was stopped. Nevertheless, the State flight tests of the MiG-31B (BS) complex were being completed, and it was still necessary to organize serial production of product 520, but in a much smaller volume.

DMZ, under the pretext of reorienting the enterprise to civilian products, refused to manufacture this missile, and the then still functioning MAP decided to load the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant (TMZ), freed from the manufacture of the ISS "Buran", with serial production of product 520. TMZ Director Arutyunov S.G. accepted the offer with satisfaction, which allowed him to retain the personnel of specialists and keep the plant "afloat". Since 1988, TMZ began to prepare for the production of product 520 and produced it serially for 8 years by orders of the Ministry of Defense.

Thus ended the epic with the serial production of product 520, which fell on the perestroika period in the country. True, for the creation of product 520, the development of serial production and operation, 15 employees of "Vympel" and related enterprises and organizations of industry and the Ministry of Defense were awarded the "Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation" in 1999.