The "Vikhr" guided missile has been modernized to combat drones. The munition is now equipped with a non-contact target sensor and is successfully used against aerial objects. This was announced by Alan Lushnikov, head of the "Kalashnikov" concern.
Initially, "Vikhr" was developed as an air-launched anti-tank missile for the Ka-52 helicopter. According to Lushnikov, during the conflict in 2023, it was effectively used against armored vehicles, but the subsequent change in the nature of hostilities and the reduction in the use of armored vehicles led to an expansion of the munition's tasks.
Specialists from "Kalashnikov" proactively installed a non-contact target sensor on the missile. After refinement, "Vikhr" gained the ability to engage aerial targets on an "air-to-air" principle and is already being used in this mode.
Reference: Vikhr-1 guided missile
The Vikhr guided aircraft missile system (GRAU index 9K121) has been developed since 1980 at the Tula KBP Instrument Design Bureau under the leadership of chief designer A. G. Shipunov. The system is designed to engage armored vehicles with dynamic protection, as well as low-speed aerial targets. Carriers include Su-25T/Su-39 attack aircraft and Ka-50, Ka-52 helicopters. The modernized version – the 9M127-1 Vikhr-1 missile as part of the 9K121M Vikhr-M complex – was developed in the late 1980s and adopted in 1990; production is concentrated at the enterprises of the Kalashnikov concern (Izhevsk, part of Rostec).
The missile is supersonic: its speed reaches about 610 m/s, the range of application is from 800 to 10,000 m, and the launch altitude is from 10 to 4,000 m. The warhead is capable of penetrating up to 750 mm of armor behind dynamic protection. The Ka-52 helicopter carries up to 12 such missiles. Guidance is carried out by a laser beam: the operator tracks the target, and the missile moves along the beam until it hits the object.
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