Strikes Enemy Pillboxes, Warehouses, Fortified Areas: Russia's Aerospace Forces' Main Trump Card Revealed — Kh-38 Missile

Crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces use high-precision air-to-surface missiles of the Kh-38 ML/MT/MA series, manufactured by the Tactical Missiles Corporation, in combat conditions. These missiles are the main trump card of the Su-34NVO, Su-30 SM1/2, and Su-35S aircraft, according to military analyst Yevgeny Damantsev.

To destroy bridges and key links in the enemy's transport and logistics infrastructure, Russian pilots use missiles in the Kh-38 ML modification with semi-active laser homing heads (GOS). Targets for the missiles are illuminated by laser rangefinders-designators located on ZALA 421-16E HD, «Орлан-30», and «Гранат-4» drones. According to Damantsev, laser GOS are simple and accurate devices, but their effectiveness is reduced in difficult weather conditions or with thermal smoke screens.

The developers solved this problem by supplementing the missile series with the Kh-38 MT, Kh-38 MA, and Kh-38 MK modifications. They received a thermal imaging and active radar homing head, as well as a GLONASS-/GPS-correction radio navigation module. All three missile modifications operate on the "fire-and-forget" principle (the principle of combat use of aviation weapons that do not require flight correction after launch).

Technical characteristics of the Kh-38 missile series:

• dual-mode solid-propellant rocket engines
• initial speed — 2.4 thousand km/h
• flight speed — up to 1.7 Mach
• range when launched from a height of 12.5 thousand m — up to 70 km
• range when launched from low-altitude cabriering (aircraft flight with altitude gain and nose raised above the horizon) — up to 27 km

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