On August 21, the Chinese edition of the Sina Military published an article on modern aircraft weapons. Under the intriguing title “Russian and American Helicopter Missiles. Why is the Russian missile faster, but poorly sold? lurked an interesting attempt to analyze technical and commercial issues in the field of guided missile weapons. The Chinese media managed to find an answer to the question in the title of the article.
Product comparison
At the beginning of its article, Sina Military reminds us that American aviation is good, and missiles are even better for it. Russia is also trying to create modern weapons, but in conditions of war, its products usually show themselves not in the best way. All this affects Russian military exports.
In terms of investment in the defense sector, Russia is not lagging behind the United States. The tabular characteristics of its missiles are not lower or even higher than those of American products. Despite this, it is not the first year that Russian aircraft missiles have been inferior to competitors in terms of sales.
Sina Military proposes to consider in this context the main anti-tank weapons of the helicopters of the two countries. The USA presents the AGM-114 Hellfire rocket for the AH-64 Apache helicopter, and Russia presents the AT-16 product (9K121 "Whirlwind") for the Mi-28 helicopter.
The publication reminds that the AGM-114 was the world's first helicopter missile with semi-active laser guidance. She was put into service in the mid-eighties and entered the range of ammunition for the Apache helicopter. Subsequently, the rocket was included in the ammunition of the AH-1 and UH-60 helicopters. Over time, the Hellfire became the most massive air-to-surface missile of its generation.
The maximum firing range of the AGM-114 reaches 8 km. Hellfires are divided into two generations. The missiles of the first have a semi-active laser seeker, and the second uses radar and infrared heads. The weapons of the first generation are still more widely used.
The Russian AT-16 / Whirlwind missile also comes in two versions. The first version of this weapon in the type of guidance is only remotely similar to the American AGM-114. The carrier directs a laser beam at the target, and the rocket automatically flies along it. Not so long ago, tests of a new millimeter-wave radar head for the second generation of the Vortex were completed.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the AT-16 missile has a range of up to 10 km. In addition, the Whirlwind is faster than the Hellfire. In flight, the Russian rocket accelerates to 610 m / s against 392 m / s for a competitor. The Whirlwind's flight to its maximum range takes only 28 seconds. The rocket flies at 8 km in 23 seconds, at 6 km in 14 seconds!
Sina Military reminds that Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its missiles to buyers, but this did not help. There are few orders for such weapons. The two helicopter missiles under consideration use similar laser guidance systems. Why do they show different commercial results?
Conclusions about missiles
The Chinese publication believes that the reason for the insufficient sales is the outdated guidance technology used in the AT-16 complex. The missile is automatically held onto the laser beam illuminating the target. Because of this, the carrier helicopter must direct the laser at the target until the missile hits.
This type of guidance allows you to reduce the cost of equipment on the rocket. At the same time, it forces the aircraft or helicopter carrier to remain in the line of sight of the target for some time. In this case, he is exposed to air defense or other means of the enemy.
American AGM-114 missiles with a semi-active laser seeker also require target illumination from the carrier or from the ground. However, at the same time, a more complex and expensive solution is used. The rocket has an inertial navigation system that ensures its flight to a given point. Thanks to this, the carrier or ground gunner can turn on the target illumination only at the last moment before the missile hits, when the enemy does not have time to react to the attack.
A rocket with such equipment is noticeably more complicated and more expensive, but due to this, the risks for the carrier are reduced. At the same time, the American industry continues to improve the missiles of the Hellfire family. The new modifications use infrared and radar seeker that do not need target illumination. In addition, it provides a silent and almost invisible launch from the carrier. All this makes the rocket even more deadly.
Criticism
Comparison of two missiles from Sina Military is interesting enough, but not without weak points. The most notable thing is a mistake with Russian helicopters and their weapons. The 9K121 Vikhr missile system is not used on Mi-28 helicopters. The latter solve the tasks of defeating armored vehicles with the help of the Shturm and Attack missiles. However, the "Whirlwind" is indeed in service with the Air Force. Such weapons are used by Ka-52 attack helicopters.
Questions are raised by the comparison of several versions of the AGM-114 rocket with just one Russian-made rocket, according to the results of which the Vortex turns out to be an insufficiently versatile complex. Other Russian guided air-to-surface missiles, incl. newer and better ones are not mentioned or considered.
Comparison of tabular data and characteristics looks fairly objective, but misses important questions. The hit accuracy indicators were ignored. Also, the parameters of warheads, the effectiveness of destruction of armored targets, etc. are not considered.
Also, the Chinese edition limited itself to technical issues only. A number of other factors would have to be considered for a detailed study of the commercial advancements and prospects of weapons. Sales of helicopter missiles are influenced not only by technical features, but also by issues of the supply of aviation equipment, economic indicators, politics, etc.
Difference in concepts
It is worth recalling the important features of the two missiles, also missed by the Sina Military. Products "Hellfire" and "Whirlwind" differ from each other not only in technical parameters, but also at the level of concepts underlying the projects. At the time of their creation, in the seventies and eighties, the USA and the USSR had different views on anti-tank weapons for combat helicopters.
The purpose of the AGM-114 project was to create a rocket that operates on the "fire-and-forget" principle. Due to this, it was planned to increase the safety of the carrier helicopter while obtaining the desired combat effectiveness. The complexity and high cost of such a rocket faded into the background. In the future, this approach made it possible to use the AGM-114A rocket as a platform for creating more effective weapons that receive new components.
In our country, the creation of missiles of the "fire-and-forget" type at that time was considered inappropriate for reasons of complexity and cost. All expensive and complex control equipment was proposed to be placed on a carrier aircraft or on a ground platform. Due to this, the ratio of combat qualities and cost corresponded to the requirements of the military.
Similar principles were used both in the Whirlwind project and in the creation of the later Sturm and Attack. However, the views of the customer are changing, and new samples of domestic aircraft missiles receive autonomous guidance systems.
Differences in basic concepts and differences in the results obtained could indeed have an impact on the export prospects of weapons. The AGM-114 missiles of all modifications are in service with almost three dozen countries. Russian "Whirlwinds" are so far supplied only to the Russian Air Force. At the same time, the Shturm missiles can compete with Hellfire in terms of export - about 30 operators. "Attacks" have not yet become very widespread.
The Russian and American helicopter missiles reviewed by Sina Military did indeed perform differently on the market. However, this situation is unlikely to be reduced to only one guidance principle. There are other important factors, and it is simply impossible to determine the exact influence of each. However, it is difficult to dispute the fact that AGM-114 are selling well abroad, while “Vikhri” is still only in Russia.
