R-74M (RVV-MD) / K-74 / Izdeliye 760
Air-to-air missiles were, are and will be the main weapon of air combat. Even the most expensive fighter, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, with the most advanced glider and incredible electronics, but without missiles (or ineffective), in modern combat is no more use than a flying piece of metal.
The main weapons of the Su-35 are the R-74 (RVV-MD) air-to-air missiles which allow firing out of line of sight. Almost identical in appearance to the R-73, the R-74M is distinguished by a new two-band infrared seeker which provides increased seeker range and an expanded off-boresight capability. After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Ukrainian Arsenal company which provided the seeker for the R-74M, ended its cooperation with Vympel.
Development of guided weapons for the PAK FA is carried out by the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation (KTRV). Air-to-air missile systems are being created by the II Toropov Moscow State Design Bureau Vympel, which is part of the KTRV. For PAK FA, Vympel is developing promising air-to-air products of short, medium and long range for internal deployment and with a gradual increase in their combat characteristics.
In the field of short-range weapons, work is underway to modernize the R-73 missile family. The main direction of its modernization was the creation of the "product 760" (Raketa Vozdukh-Vozdukh - RVV-MD) of the so-called "second stage of modernization". The characteristics of the rocket were increased by equipping it with a combined control system as part of a thermal homing head, an inertial control system (ISU) and a radio correction line receiver. Target capture can be carried out after the launch on target designation from the ISU. The transverse size of the rocket is 320 x 320 mm. She is able to lock the target on the trajectory and, when launched, make a turn by 160 degrees. It was stated that the "product 760" had passed government tests and is ready for mass production.
The RVV-MD is a short-range air-to-air guided missile for short-range maneuverable air combat with a combined aerogasdynamic control system is designed to engage air targets (fighters, bombers, military aviation aircraft, helicopters) at any time of the day, at all angles, with active enemy countermeasures. The missile is part of the armament of fighters, attack aircraft, and can also be used as part of helicopters.
The state-owned enterprise of special instrument making "Arsenal" (KP SPB "Arsenal", Kiev) intended to start production of improved homing warheads for air-to-air missiles. This is stated in the investment project published by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. In particular, within the framework of the investment project, it is planned to prepare and master production at the enterprise of the IS-90 infrared homing head (GOS) for short-range air-to-air missiles using a multi-element photodetector, new digital information processing algorithms, new design solutions and modern element base.
The total amount of financing for the investment project was UAH 357.297 million. Start of project implementation - 2013, end of implementation - 2016. KP SPB "Arsenal" specializes in the production of navigation systems, orientation and aiming systems for rocket and space technology; infrared homing heads for surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles; household and industrial gas meters; banking equipment; medical technology; road LED traffic lights; photographic equipment; optical and electro-optical devices.
As reported, in April 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to reorganize the state-owned enterprise "Central Design Bureau" Arsenal "into the state-owned enterprise of special instrument making" Arsenal". The Cabinet of Ministers decided to join the state-owned enterprise the Arsenal plant and the Ukrainian technological center for optical instrument making.
On 07 July 2015, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yuri Borisov paid a working visit to the Kurgan Region. He visited 2 of the largest defense enterprises in the region: Kurganmashzavod and Kurganpribor. And on August 20, 2015, the Kurganpribor Special Design Technological Bureau (SKTB) rocket plant was opened in Kurgan. The enterprise produces a new short-range air-to-air missile R-74 (RVV-MD). For the first time a new rocket was publicly presented at the ARMY-2018 forum.
RVV-MD 2
The new RVV-MD 2 missile (short-range air-to-air missile) is a modification of the R-73 short-range air-to-air missile, the development of which began back in 1978. The R-73M holds the world record for range, speed and power. And in the 2000s, the development of the RVV-MD rocket began. RVV-MD 2 is designed to attack air targets in highly maneuverable close combat at any time of the day and in any direction relative to the carrier aircraft. The rocket has a cylindrical body 2.92 m long and 0.17 m in diameter. The launch weight of the rocket is 106 kg. Warhead - 8 kg of explosives stuffed with rods to hit targets. RVV-MD 2 can hit a target flying at a speed of 2500 m/s.
RVV-MD2 short-range missiles of the 5th generation have been created for the Russian Su-57 fighters. These are 5-10 years ahead of similar developments in the United States, and are now being put into service, sccording to a representatives of the development company GosMKB Vympel, writes RIA Novosti August 4, 2023. For the first time for ammunition of this class, RVV-MD2 missiles received an inertial control system. As the director and chief specialist of the Vympel research and testing complex Andrey Ermolaev and Artem Mikhailov note in their article in the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, the new missile can be placed in the fuselage compartments of the 5th generation Su-57 fighter.
As the editor-in-chief of the magazine, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky, clarified in an interview with the agency, for the first time in short-range missiles, an inertial control system is used. It assumes that the ammunition determines its coordinates in space autonomously, without external references and signals, calculating its position in space based on its previous position. In addition, the RVV-MD2 is equipped with a radio correction line, which allows you to specify the coordinates of the target from the aircraft. The new missile can hit targets from all angles, Murakhovsky added.
Su-57 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter. He made his first flight in 2010, and was adopted by the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2020. It is known that the fighter has already passed combat tests and proved to be excellent. The Su-57 has special compartments in the wing for short-range missiles, and these compartments required a new, more compact and more advanced missile - RVV-MD 2. RVV-MD2 can be placed in the inner fuselage compartments of the fifth generation Su-57 fighter. The compactness of the RVV-MD 2 allows it to be freely placed inside the Su-57 and thus not unmask it. Another advantage of the new missile, according to the editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland, is a multi-element dual-band infrared homing head with increased noise immunity. The new missile can hit targets at all angles, in particular in the rear hemisphere - that is, the RVV-MD2 is launched forward, turns in the air and hits an enemy aircraft behind the Su-57.
RVV-MD 2 has very high noise immunity. They are hard to bring down with the help of heat traps, electronic warfare and other systems. In addition, these missiles are all-angle. “Even if we found that the target was flying behind us, then it is not necessary to turn around. This missile can be fired forward, and it will turn 180 degrees and attack the aircraft in the rear hemisphere,” said the director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces, retired colonel Yuri Knutov in an interview with Regnum news agency.
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