- Bisnovat R-40
The Bisnovat (later
Molniya ) R-40 (NATO reporting name AA-6 'Acrid') was a long-rangeair-to-air missile developed in the 1960s by theSoviet Union for use byinterceptor aircraft .Development
The Bisnovat design bureau began development of a long-range air-to-air missile in 1962. The resulting R-40 was initially matched with the Smerch-A (Tornado-A)
radar of theMiG-25 . It was built insemi-active radar homing (R-40R) andinfrared-homing (R-40T) versions.Following the defection of PVO pilot
Viktor Belenko in 1976,Vympel developed an improved version of the missile with superior countermeasures (IRCM ) resistance and more sensitive seekers. The upgraded missiles were designated with the suffix -D (for 'development', "finalized"). Later -D1 versions were also developed.Production of the R-40 ended in 1991, but it remains in limited service arming surviving
MiG-25 and someMiG-31 interceptors.Combat History
As the MiG-25 has been exported to various states in the Middle East, the R-40 has been used in combat by Iraq and probably by Syria and Libya too. A declassified document of the CIA reports that in the first day of Desert Storm, on
17 January 1991,Scott Speicher 's F/A-18C was shot down by a R-40 fired from an Iraqi MiG-25. [http://www.webcom.com/amraam/aaloss.html] On24 December 2002, an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down an MQ-1 Predator drone with a R-40. The RQ-1 fired back an AIM-92 Stinger, but the MiG evaded it.pecifications (R-40TD / R-40RD)
* Length: (R-40TD) 5.98 m (19 ft 7.5 in); (R-40RD) 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
* Wingspan: 1450 mm (4 ft 9 in)
* Diameter: 310 mm (12.2 in)
* Launch weight: (R-40TD) 450 kg (990 lb); (R-40RD) 461 kg (1,015 lb)
* Speed: Mach 4.5
* Range: 30 km (19 mi); 60 km (37 mi)
* Guidance: (R-40TD)infrared homing; (R-40RD)semi-active radar homing
* Warhead: 70 kg (154 lb) blast fragmentationOperators
Current Operators
*
*Syria - To be retired.Former Operators
*
*Iraq - Retired. 660 missiles originally delivered.
* - Passed onto successor statesExternal links
* [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/aa-6.htm Federation of American Scientists page]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/aa-6.htm GlobalSecurity.org page]Template group
list =
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.