On January 25th, Boris Obnosov, General Manager of the Russian Tactical Missile Company (KTRV), confirmed to TASS that the company is ready to mass produce the RVV-BD ultra long range air-to-air missile for foreign trade. The Russian military's self use version R-37M of the missile completed preliminary service tests in 2014 and entered trial production. It has also been used for live fire shooting on MiG-31BM interceptors and Su-35S fighter jets.Compared with the existing mid-range ammunition products in the international military trade market, the biggest advantage of RVV-BD is its long range. It is currently the longest range ammunition exported by various countries, but it is also the heaviest.

This R-37M is an improved version of the R-37 ultra long range air-to-air missile used in conjunction with the MiG-31M fighter jet in the 1990s. The R-37 was developed in the 1980s and was the successor to the R-33 ultra long range air-to-air missile used in the MiG-31 interceptor during the Cold War. Due to both being products of the Vympel Design Bureau in the Soviet Union, the R-37 has a certain degree of inheritance from the R-33 in terms of design. For example, the body diameter of both bombs is 380mm, and the aerodynamic design is a small aspect ratio with a middle wing and a tail correction rudder wing. However, the distance between the middle wing and the tail wing of the R-37 is larger than that of the R-33. The length of the two bombs is also similar, with the R-37 being 4.2 meters long and the R-33 being 4.25 meters long. However, in terms of weight, the R-37 is nearly 109 kilograms heavier than the R-33, reaching 600 kilograms.

Su-35S launches R-37M

The increased weight is mainly concentrated in the enhancement of the missile power compartment. The R-37 uses a single chamber dual thrust engine, which has two types of engine charges: one has a faster burning rate, mainly used for initial acceleration, and the other has a slower burning rate, mainly used to maintain the missile's cruising speed. With the support of stronger engines, the high-altitude range of R-37 has been greatly improved compared to R-33 (160 kilometers range), but currently its range is claimed to be over 200 kilometers and over 300 kilometers, among other claims. The confirmed shooting data is the 304 kilometer hit target aircraft mentioned in Yeltsin's congratulatory message in April 1994, which may have been a simulated bomber or early warning aircraft. In terms of guidance, R-33 is a mid course inertial navigation system with command correction, and a final stage semi-active radar guidance system. The R-37, on the other hand, has been modified with mid course inertial navigation and command correction, and active radar guidance in the final stage, reducing its dependence on the carrier.

Compared to the R-37, the R-37M has mainly improved its missile guidance head by replacing it with a more compact 9B-1103M-350 active radar guidance head. Compared to the 40 kilogram 9B-1388 active radar seeker of the R-37, the new head has a smaller antenna size and has been replaced with a flat slot antenna, significantly reducing its weight to only 13 kilograms. However, the target capture distance is still 40 kilometers (for targets with a radar reflection area of 5 square meters). Thanks to the weight reduction of the guidance head and other parts of the missile body, the total weight of the R-37M has been reduced to 510 kilograms, and the length of the missile body has also been shortened by 0.14 meters, while the range remains basically unchanged. As an export version of the R-37M, the RVV-BD has announced a range of 200 kilometers and an active radar seeker capture distance of 30 kilometers, which is slightly lower compared to the R-37M.

9B-1103M-350 active radar seeker for R-37M

In terms of range, the RVV-BD is indeed a very eye-catching highlight in the current military trade market, but its huge size and half ton weight also make the adaptability of the missile mounting relatively poor. The total number of missiles mounted on the aircraft using it is reduced, and the maneuverability is also affected after mounting multiple missiles. In addition, its long range also requires strong radar detection and tracking performance of the carrier itself, and many models on the market are not suitable for using this missile. In fact, if we compare the range, weight, size, and seeker technology level of integrated missiles, the market competitiveness of RVV-BD may not necessarily be comparable to the new foreign medium range missiles launched by other powerful countries. And the so-called long range actually needs to be considered in conjunction with the launch height of the missile. Some of the range data of the newly launched foreign trade medium range missiles by other powerful countries may seem average, but when combined with their target launch height, it is actually not simple.

Source: Military of Strong Countries