On 19 October 2022, Russian, and subsequently Indian media claimed that a Russian Sukhoi Su-57 shot down a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su- 27 using the Vympel R-37M Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM). This was the first registered “kill” by the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 while the R-37M missile has risen to prominence during the ‘Special Military Operations’ repeatedly demonstrating Single Shot Kill Probability (SSPK) and enabling the Russian Air Force to maintain air superiority. R-37M was derived from the Vympel R-37 (AA-13 Arrow) BVRAAM developed to replace the MiG-31 mounted R-33 (AA-9 Amos). R-37 was designed and developed to shoot down ultra-high-value airborne platforms like Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C), Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR), Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) and Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STAR) platforms, from stand-off ranges without necessarily having first to deal with their fighter escorts. Mid-body strakes enhance lift while folding tail controls allow semi-conformal carriage. The new version is known as R-37M/ Izdeliye 610/ RVV-BD (Raketa Vozduh- Vozduh Bolyshoy Dalnosty) armed with powerful Agat 9B-1388 active seeker. The dual-mode solid-fuelled R-37M/RVV-BD BVRAAM was unveiled at MAKS 2011 for the first time, capable of fulfilling the BVR role for “outer-air battles” by taking out enemy AEW&C and AAR platforms at the initial stages of conflict. However, the missile has proven potent even against fighter sized targets. The 4.06-m long RVV-BD weighs 510-kg, has a range up to 398-km in “cruise glide” mode and is capable of destroying targets with overload up to 8-g at an altitude from 15-m to 25-km. The hypersonic (Mach 6) missile is armed with a 60-kg high explosive fragmentation warhead. The R-37M is launched in fire-and-forget mode towards the target’s hypothesised position, and once the R-37M comes within suitable range of the target; it activates its own active seeker and homes in on the target at high speed providing little reaction time to the adversary. The active seeker is equipped with a new miniature digital processor with an abundant memory and increased speed and resistant to electronic warfare. The missile is equipped with non-contact active radar and standby contact fuzes. In Russian Air Force service the R-37M missiles arm the MiG-31BM interceptors, Sukhoi Su-35S and Sukhoi Su-57 air superiority fighters. It is not clear whether R-37M/RVV-BD arms Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI air superiority fighters although the missile has supposedly undergone extensive live firings in India’s test ranges.
Sayan Majumdar (Images: en.missilery.info and Wikipedia)