Russian Su-35S fighters may encounter American AIM-174B air-to-air missiles on the front lines, which are capable of negating the potential of domestic R-37Ms in long-range air combat. Military analyst Evgeny Damantsev explained how pilots will be able to effectively counter this threat.
According to him, the first AIM-174B missiles turned out to be capable of operating at a distance of up to 320 km in long-range air combat. Later, they can be integrated into the ammunition of F-15C/E/EX fighters, as well as F-16C Block 40/50/62/70.
Damantsev noted that products such as the promising KS-172M with a range of up to 400 km, or the design of new missiles based on the 40N6 or 9M96DM SAM, are capable of parrying the capabilities of these missiles.
It is also worth noting that the larger midsection and the presence of a radio-contrast cloth of the active radar seeker of the AIM-174 ERAM missile brings its RCS to 0.1 - 0.15 km². This means that the onboard N035 Irbis-E radars of the Su-35S fighters will be able to detect these missiles at a distance of 170 - 180 km and provide interception by the same R-37M at distances of less than 100 km.
R-37M is a development of the previous generation R-37 long-range missile, which was developed in the 1980s.
Official technical characteristics of the armament are not disclosed, but it is known from open sources that the missile is equipped with a homing head and is capable of hitting high-speed air targets at a range of more than 300 km. The mass of the missile is more than 500 kg, the high-explosive fragmentation warhead is 60 kg.
Earlier www1.ru reported that the Russian Armed Forces began testing a new platform for drones "Pchelka". This is a platform for lifting many copters without catapults into the air and transferring them to the area of task execution.