US Air force f-22 Russian Air force The Vympel R-37 (NATO reporting name: AA-X-13/AA-13 Arrow)[1] is a Russian air-to-air missile with an extremely long range. It has also had the names K-37, Izdeliye 610 and R-VD (Raketa-Vysokaya Dalnost, "Very Long Range Missile"), and the NATO codename 'Andi'.[2] It was designed to shoot down AWACS and other C4ISTAR aircraft[1] whilst keeping the launch platform out of range of any fighters that might be protecting the target. The R-37 was developed from the Vympel R-33.[citation needed] For compatibility with aircraft that did not have the MiG-31's sophisticated radar, the semi-active seeker was replaced with a variant of the Agat 9B-1388 active seeker;[1] mid-body strakes enhance lift[1] and hence range, and folding tail controls allow semi-conformal carriage[1] on planes that are not as big as the MiG-31. According to Defence Today the range depends on the flight profile, from 80 nautical miles (150 km) for a direct shot[1] to 215 nautical miles (398 km) for a cruise glide profile.[1] According to Jane's there are two variants, the R-37 and the R-37M; the latter has a jettisonable rocket booster that increases the range to "300-400km" (160--220 nm).[2] The missile was designed in the early 1980s and first flown in 1989.[2] Testing of the R-37 continued through the 1990s;[2] in 1994 a trial round scored a kill at a range of 162 nautical miles (300 km).[1] However, the programme appears to have been dropped around 1998 on grounds of cost.[2] Work on the missile appears to have restarted in late 2006,[2] as part of the MiG-31BM programme[2] to update the Foxhound with a new radar and ground attack capability. The R-37 is now in production to equip upgraded Russian MiG-31BM Foxhound interceptors, and export MiG-31BM aircraft for Syria. Despite the early intent to integrate the weapon on the Flanker, this has yet to be reported. An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled. Ramjet engines, as used on the MBDA Meteor (currently in development), are emerging as propulsion that will enable future medium-range missiles to maintain higher average speed across their engagement envelope. Air-to-air missiles are broadly put in two groups. Those designed to engage opposing aircraft at ranges of less than 30 km are known as short-range or "within visual range" missiles (SRAAMs or WVRAAMs) and are sometimes called "dogfight" missiles because they are designed to optimize their agility rather than range. Most use infrared guidance and are called heat-seeking missiles. In contrast, medium- or long-range missiles (MRAAMs or LRAAMs), which both fall under the category of beyond visual range missiles (BVRAAMs), tend to rely upon radar guidance, of which there are many forms. Some modern ones use inertial guidance and/or "mid-course updates" to get the missile close enough to use an active homing sensor. The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.[5] It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed, and is the largest and one of the world's most technologically advanced air forces. The USAF articulates its core functions as Nuclear Deterrence Operations, Special Operations, Air Superiority, Global Integrated ISR, Space Superiority, Command and Control, Cyberspace Superiority, Personnel Recovery, Global Precision Attack, Building Partnerships, Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support.[6] The Russian Air Force (Russian: Военно-воздушные cилы России, tr. Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily Rossii) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is currently under the command of Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev. The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the Russian Naval Aviation, which is the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voyenno Morskogo Flota ("Naval Aviation"), or AV-MF). The Air Force was formed from parts of the former Soviet Air Forces after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991--92. Boris Yeltsin's creation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on 7 May 1992, can be taken as a convenient formation date for the new Air Force. Since that time, the Air Force has suffered severe setbacks due to lack of resources, and has constantly shrunk in size. Since Vladimir Putin became President of the Russian Federation however, much more money has been allocated to the Armed Forces as a whole. Russia Listeni/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation[7]

• published: 18 Jan 2014
• views: 1443