Alfa Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) There is an EA variant (active radar) with a range of 130km. No there isn't - the R-27 missile system comes with SARH, IR and passive radar homing heads. A variant(-EA) with an ARH seeker was proposed some time in the nineties, but didn't materialise. Edited October 13, 2015 by Alfa JJ
Alfa Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Alfa, the RVV-AE is an export missile only supposedly using commercially available components due to original manufacturer AGAT being located in Ukraine after the USSR splitup. Yes the RVV-AE is an export item, but its made in Russia by Vympel(now part of the "Tactical Missiles Corporaton" umbrella organisation). AGAT is a Russian company(located in Moscow) that produces radar seekerheads - including the 9B-1348E for the RVV-AE. The RVV-SD is the new domestic all Russian and improved version. I know Pilotasso :) Edited October 13, 2015 by Alfa JJ
Emu Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 No there isn't - the R-27 missile system comes with SARH, IR and passive radar homing heads. A variant(-EA) with an ARH seeker was proposed some time in the nineties, but didn't materialise. That's a long time for a missile not to materialise, especially when the R-77 has an ARH head. Seems unusual to still be using SARH missiles.
Lucas_From_Hell Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 It wasn't in development this whole time, the R-27EA was pursued in the 1990s but like many projects started in that era was discontinued. Instead they just went ahead with development of the R-77, a much more capable missile by all means. The same thing happened to the proposals for the Active Skyflash. When budget is tight and your choices are between upgrading an old missile that has its limitations or making a new one from scratch that has more room for improvement, the choice is obvious - particularly during peace time. Many air forces still field Sparrows for example. In the Syria situation, it is much more convenient to take your endless stock of old missiles to the field when there is virtually no air opposition and the R-27 can still do the trick should anyone bother you. It's cheaper.
Emu Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 Okay thanks. I just read up on Active Skyflash. Does the AMRAAM use a solid state transmitter yet?
Alfa Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 That's a long time for a missile not to materialise, especially when the R-77 has an ARH head. Seems unusual to still be using SARH missiles. It was proposed as an upgrade for stock R-27 missiles, but as Lucas said, rejected in favour of the new R-77 design, which apart from the ARH seeker has many superiour features over the R-27 design - it is more agile and lighther, which in turn means that it can be mounted on more suspension stations allowing for more versatile loadouts. Mind you, the R-27 "family" is not really a line of individual missiles, but rather a system of different missile parts that can be assembled for different purposes. The "EA" proposal really boiled down to a new seeker module with an ARH unit in place of the SARH and although this ARH seeker(9B-1103M) is no longer being pursued for the R-27 line, it is still around and being offered as a universial seeker in various sizes - the upgraded 200mm version of it may in fact be the one used in the new RVV-SD. 1 JJ
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