Illustrative image. (Kalashnikov Group)
A modified version of the 9K121 Vikhr missile is being used effectively against drones, Kalashnikov Group CEO and board member of the Union of Russian Machine-Building Enterprises, Alan Lushnikov, said in an interview with TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov.
“It (the Vikhr missile) was developed as an air-to-ground anti-tank missile for the Ka-52 helicopter. And during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023, it proved highly effective when used by army aviation against armored vehicles,” Lushnikov said. “But then, once again, the conditions of the military conflict shifted amid the widespread use of drones, including those equipped with fiber-optic sensors, and armored vehicles stopped appearing on the battlefield. And the missile is now being used against drones.”
According to Lushnikov, the modification includes equipping the missile with a proximity fuse, which would allow it to explode close enough to kill the drone without a direct hit.
The Vikhr, which is the main armament of the Ka-52, is guided by laser beam riding, which makes it completely immune to jamming.
The missile can reach high speeds up to Mach 1.8, and can reportedly reach a maximum range between 10 and 12 kilometers.
Lushnikov didn’t clarify in the interview whether the missile modified for the air-to-air role kept the tandem high-explosive anti-tank charge, or if it was substituted with a high-explosive fragmentation one that would be far more effective against drones.
As Ukraine stepped up its drone attacks over the past year, the Russian military began to rely more on attack drones to counter this threat.
The Ka-52 in particular is very suitable for this role as it is equipped with Arbalet-52 dual-band coherent pulse radar and the GOES-451 electro-optical targeting system, which are reportedly capable of detecting aerial targets from a range up to 15 kilometers.
The modified version of the Vikhr will greatly boost the Ka-52’s capabilities as a drone hunter. A single helicopter could carry up to 12 such missiles, in addition to external fuel tanks.
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