9A4172 Vikhr is a Russian laser guided anti-tank missile. "9K121" is the GRAU
designation for the missile system. The missile is launched from ships, Ka-50,
Ka-52 helicopters and Su-25T aircraft. It was first shown publicly at the 1992
Farnborough Airshow. Description
The missile is designed to engage vital ground targets, including armoured
targets fitted out with built-in and add-on explosive reactive armor, at a
range of up to 8 km when fired from a helicopter and 10 km when fired from a
fixed-wing aircraft in daytime and up to 5 km at night, as well as air targets in
conditions of air defense assets activity.
The Vikhr-1 missile is part of the Vikhr-M system, which also includes an
automatic sight and a depressible launcher. Adopted in 1990.
The automatic sight is provided with TV and IR channels for target sighting, a
laser beam channel for missile control, a laser rangefinder, an automatic target
tracking unit, a digital computer and a system for stabilization and aiming the
sighting and beam channels. The automatic sight provides for target
detection and identification both by day and night, automatic target tracking and
missile guidance, and generates exact information for gun and rocket firing.
The guided missile consists of a HEAT fragmentation warhead fitted with a
contact and a proximity fuze, an air-dynamic control actuator, control
electronics, a motor and laser detector. It is kept in a sealed launching
transporting container. The multi-purpose warhead allows the
missile to be used against armoured, airborne and area targets alike. This is
an advantage compared to the three different missiles required in the 9M120
Ataka-V complex. The use of the proximity fuze allows a near miss of up
to 5 m and makes it possible to engage an air target at speeds of 500 m/s.
The Vikhr missile laser beam control system provides for its precise guidance
owing to data transmission to the missile in the course of its launch,
which is excluded in homing systems. The Vikhr missile control system has high
jamming immunity because its receiver faces the carrier, thereby protecting it
from jamming signals. The high pinpoint target hit probability
is provided by the automatic target tracking system and highly accurate
missile control system that makes allowance for changes in the parameters
of the carrier and the target in the course of firing.
The missiles can be fired singly or in pairs. The high flight speed allows it
to engage targets rapidly. The system is capable of launching Vikhr missiles
against two to four targets during a 30-second period and starting at a range
of 10 km, which increases its lethality to three to four times that of earlier
systems. Confusion with the 9M120 Ataka-V
There was much confusion toward the end of the 1980s regarding the latest Soviet
anti-tank systems. The end of the Cold War cleared much of this up, but also
led to a general failure to properly publicise new information. This has
resulted in a large portion of Western literature including incorrect
information. The most common error is simply
confusing the 9M120 Ataka-V complex with the 9A4172 Vikhr system. These are
completely different systems that have been competing for the Russian market.
Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant favours the former, while Sukhoi and Kamov favour
the latter. As some foreign Mi-24 derivatives have actually been fitted
with the 9A4172 the most reliable way to tell them apart is to look for the
number of barrels: Eight per launcher for the helicopter borne 9M120 and the
fixed wing version of the 9A4172 and six per launcher for the helicopter version
of the 9A4172. A four barrel launcher is typical of the Igla short range
anti-aircraft missile. Russia does not use currently four barrel launchers for
airborne anti-tank systems although this will possibly change with the next
generation of missile. The next most common error is in
understanding the guidance systems: The 9M120 is a radio command SACLOS
missile and an improved version of the popular 9K114 Shturm system carried on
the Mi-24V and by some ground units. This system gradually loses accuracy at
longer ranges but can be fired in any condition where a target can be spotted.
On the other hand, the 9A4172 is a "laser beam riding missile". When this
first became known, it caused much confusion in the West. Analysts simply
assumed that the Soviet designers had produced a weapon similar to the AGM-114
Hellfire, which uses semi-active laser homing. Early artist impressions even
went so far as to show what appears to be a miniature copy of the Kh-29L.
When the first good photographs appeared they led to still more confusion: There
was no visible seeker. All of this was a long way from the
mark: Russia had developed a very different approach. A series of
non-imaging detectors face backwards from the missile toward the launch
platform and guide the missile toward the centre of the laser beam. This is
much cheaper and also more resistant to countermeasures.
To capitalise on the advantage given by using a lower cost seeker the Soviet
designers also produced a new flight control system: Fixed fins cause the
missile to spin in flight and a single moving control surface adjusts its
course during this rotation. The result is that for the cost of one equivalent
Western model, the Soviets could build five. Any loss of effectiveness being
partially counteracted by pilots being encouraged to fire their missiles in
pairs. External links
www.airwar.ru Notes
References Russia's Arms Catalog 2004
Jane's Air Launched Weapons, Issue thirty six.
www.airwar.ru