Russia’s Su-57 Fighter Aircraft To Get Supersonic Missiles With 300-km Range

Russia’s most-advanced multipurpose fighter jet, Su-57 will reportedly be equipped with a hypersonic anti-aircraft missile with a range of over 300km, according to a report by Pravda.Ru, a Russian news site.

Boris Obnosov, the general director of Tactical Missile Armament Corporation was quoted as saying by the Russian news daily that the ultra-long-range hypersonic missile R-37M will be mounted on the aircraft on external suspension.

The R-37M is an upgraded version of the missile that came into service in 1985. The older variant is among the larger air-to-air missiles, measuring 4.2 meters in length and 600kg in weight, suitable only for bigger aircraft like the Mig-31BM interceptor.

The updated missile’s main feature is its range, which is reported as 300km, although some sources say it may be as high as 400km, depending on flight profile. The costly missile is meant to take down equally important targets like AWACS planes, but with Mach 6 speeds and an active-seeker homing system taking over during the terminal phase, it poses a threat to more agile targets like fighter jets.

In July, it was reported that the missile was going through the final stage of trials. The work to create the R-37M was launched in the late 2000s.