Russia Armed the MiG-35 Fighter With R-37M Vympel Hypersonic Missiles, This is the Specifications!

Russia Armed the MiG-35 Fighter With R-37M Vympel Hypersonic Missiles, This is the Specifications!
Russia Armed the MiG-35 Fighter With R-37M Vympel Hypersonic Missiles

MOSCOW - Russia armed the MiG-35 Fulcrum fighter aircraft with R-37M vympel hypersonic missiles. This step is considered crazy because the character of the MiG-35 Fulcrum is a middle-heavy class fighter that is suitable for direct targeting tanks, ships, and heavy artillery. Whereas the R-37M vympel hypersonic missile is an air-to-air missile to target high-value aircraft, such as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System).

Vympel hypersonic missiles, NATO named Axehead, specifically designed for the main Russian Mig-31 Foxhound fighter aircraft. Recently, Russia managed to place vympel hypersonic missiles on other heavyweight fighter aircraft, namely Su-35 and Su-30SM/SM2.


Russian steps to integrate vympel hypersonic missiles under the MiG-35 wings by a number of foreign media are considered a brave step. "Some experts say, and may be true, that the R-37M configuration in the MiG-35 will not have the same effect as the placement of MiG-31. Why? MIG-31 is able to fly taller and faster than any Russian fighter jet, "wrote the Bulgarian Military page, Monday (12/12/2022).

In addition, the MiG-35 fighter aircraft as a middle class clearly the ability to carry different weapons with three Russian heavyweight fighter aircraft. Not to mention the ability of the MiG-35 sensor circuit which is considered not compatible to target the R-37 hypersonic missile which has a range of 400 km.


Realistically, if Russia succeeds in integrating missiles into this fighter aircraft, it will significantly make it an extraordinary missile. However, by only having 6 units of MiG-35 fighter aircraft, the placement of vympel missiles is considered not financially profitable. Moreover, Russia has been considered less interested in developing MiG-35 which is known as the successor to the MiG-29. It could be that the decision to arm MiG-35 with vympel hypersonic missiles to impress potential buyers from other countries.

Mikoyan Mig-35 fighter aircraft (NATO Fulcrum-F code name) is a fighter aircraft developed from MiG-29 M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB. Russia has officially launched the MiG-35 at the 2007 Aero India air exhibition in Bangalore.


The characteristics of MiG-35 are very impressive and Western experts give him "A+" for super maneuvering capabilities. Some analysts in the US call MiG-35 as "brain strength" because it is developed to allow full integration and autonomy with other fighter aircraft.


MiG-35 can raise at the highest speed of Mach 2.25 and fly at a height of up to 65,000 feet. This supersonic aircraft body is designed to hold 9G in positive limits and 3G at negative limits. MIG-35 is powered by two afterburner turbofan engine Klimov RD-33MK. With Radar Aesa MiG-35 can track up to 30 targets and attack six targets simultaneously.

Specifications of the Vympel Hypersonic Missiles


R-37M missiles are a large, fast, strong, and very far-away Russian air-to-air missile. Vympel missiles are known as the fastest missile in the world, able to raise 6 machs around 7,350 km/hour or hypersonic speed. Even the US and China do not have an equivalent for missiles like that.


This missile is specifically designed to be carried and launched by MIG-31, the mainstay of the Russian Air Force. The R-37 missile measuring 4.06 meters long and the 0.38 meter diameter was developed to replace the R-33 (AMOS), which was used in MiG-31. The main purpose of the 50 kg missile is to shoot a high -value plane, especially Awacs.


R-37M missiles are very effective because they are able to maneuver agile targeting targets from a height of between 15,000 and 25,000 meters. Fragmentation warheads weighing 60 kg are very explosive and can cause heavy damage to large aircraft.

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