R-37 (missile)
air-to-air missile
The Vympel R-37 (NATO reporting name: AA-13 Axehead) is a Russian very long-range air-to-air missile. The missile and its variants also had the names K-37, izdeliye 610 and RVV-BD (Ракета Воздух-Воздух Большой Дальности (Raketa Vozduh-Vozduh Bolshoy Dalnosti), "Long range air-to-air rocket"), and the NATO codenames "Axehead" and "Andi". It was developed from the R-33.
It is designed to shoot down tankers, AWACS and other C4ISTAR aircraft while keeping the launch platform out of range of any fighters that might be protecting the target.
According to Janes there are two variants, the R-37 and the R-37M; the latter conceived as having a jettisonable rocket booster that increases the range to "300–400 km" (160–220 nm). In 2023, Rosoboronexport introduced the export version of the R-37M, designated RVV-BD. It has a launch range of up to 200 kilometres (120 mi; 110 nmi) and maximum altitude of 25 kilometres (82,000 ft) with a 60 kilograms (130 lb) warhead. The missile is compatible with Sukhoi Su-57, Sukhoi Su-30, Sukhoi Su-35, Mikoyan MiG-31BM and Mikoyan MiG-35.
Design
The R-37 was developed from the R-33. 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. Similarly, folding tail controls allow semi-conformal carriage on planes that are not as big as the MiG-31.
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