Guide to understanding Russian Missile abbrevations!

In Soviet/Russian nomeclature, "M" is generally the missile designation and "K" denotes the entire Complex, including both the missile and associated systems.


Links
Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles. Andreas Parsch
Russian Missile Designations by Jeff Scott, 13 June 2004
Guide to Russian Missiles
Russian ABMs and SAMs
Mission Indentifier Variants
A Anti-ballistic missile
B Unguided test vehicle
K
KAB Guided bomb
Kh Air-to-surface missile
KRM Air-to-surface drone
KS Air-to-surface missile
KSR Air-to-surface missile
R Guided missile
S Surface-to-air missile
S Unguided rocket [?]
RS Guided missile
V Surface-to-air missile
numerical
non-sequential A
B
D
E Export (?)
F New warhead (?)
K Export (?)
Kr Modified with a guidance unit (?)
M
N Naval (?)
P Practice
R
S
T Telemetry unit or guidance unit (?)
U Training
V Test
Zh New propulsion unit (?)

Military Service Function Identification Variants
2 Ground Forces
3 Navy (VMF)
4 Navy (VMF)
5 Air / Missile Defense (PVO, PKO)
6 Air / Missile Defense (PVO, PKO)
8 Rocket Force (RVSN)
9 Air Force (VVS)
11 Space Force
14 Space Force
15 Rocket Force (RVSN)
17 Naval Space Force
A Sealed unit
D Rocket engine
F Warhead
K Complex
Kh Satellite
M Missile
N ???
P Silo
S Rocket stage
V
Ya Anti-missile missile
Zh Solid rocket motor
two-digit number alpha-numeric


Surface-To-Air Missles

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
3M8 Krug 2K11 Ganef SA-4
3M9 Kub 2K12 Gainful SA-6
5V11 Dal S-50 Griffon SA-5
5V17 S-25M Guild SA-1
5V18 S-25M Guild SA-1
5V21 (V-860) Angara/Volga?Vega? S-200 Gammon SA-5
5V24 (V-600) Neva S-125 Goa SA-3
5V27 (V-601) Neva S-125 Goa SA-3
5V28 (V-880) Dubna S-200 Gammon SA-5
5V55 Buk S-300-P Grumble SA-10
5V7 (V-300) S-25 Guild SA-1
5Ya24? S-25MA Guild SA-1
5Ya25? S-25M Guild SA-1
9M111 Grison SA-19
9M20 Kub 2K12 Gainful SA-6
9M31 Strela-1 9K31 Gaskin SA-9
9M311 Treugolnik 2K22 Grisom SA-19
9M313 Igla-1 9K310 / 9K38? Gimlet SA-16
9M316 Krug 2K11 Ganef SA-4
9M317 Buk-M2 9K40 Grizzly SA-17
9M32 Strela-2 9K32M Grail SA-7
9M33 Osa 9K33 Gecko SA-8
9M330 Tor 9K330 Gauntlet SA-15
9M331 Tor 9K331 / 9K332 Gauntlet SA-15
9M333 Strela-10 9K35M Gopher SA-13
9M36 Strela-3 9K34 (9K36) Gremlin SA-14
9M37 Strela-10 9K35 Gopher SA-13
9M38 Buk-1 9K37 Gadfly SA-11
9M39 Igla-1 9K38 Grouse SA-18
9M39 Igla-1 9K310 Gimlet SA-16
9M8 Krug 2K11 Ganef SA-4
9M82 (Novator/Antey) S-300V/2 (9K81) Giant SA-12B
9M83 (Novator/Antey) S-300V/1 (9K81) Gladiator SA-12A
9M9 Kub 2K12 Gainful SA-6
9M96 Favorit S-300-PMU/S-400 Gargoyle SA-20
40N6 Favorit S-300PMU Gargoyle SA-20
44N6 S-25MA Guild SA-1
48N6 Favorit S-300PMU/S-400 Gargoyle SA-20
V-300 Berkut S-25 Guild SA-1
V-400 Gaffer SA-?
V-600 Neva S-125 Goa SA-3
V-601 Neva S-125 Goa SA-3
V-750 Volkhov/Dvina/Desna S-75 / SA-75 Guideline SA-2
Triumf S-400 SA-21


Air-To-Surface Missles

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
*** S-25L
*** R-1
*** R-210
*** Grom BL10 P-750? Koala AS-19
3M25A Meteorit-A Koala AS-X-19
3M51 Alfa P-900
3M54 Alfa P-900
9M114V Sturm-V 9K113 AS-8
K-10S Yen K-10 Kipper AS-2
Kh-11 (Mikoyan) Kelt AS-5
Kh-20 (Mikoyan) K-20 Kangaroo AS-3
Kh-22 Burya (Raduga) K-22 (D-2) Kitchen AS-4
Kh-23 Grom (Zvezda) Kerry AS-7
Kh-26 (Raduga) Kingfish AS-6
Kh-27 (Zvezda) Karen AS-10
Kh-27 Grom (Zvezda) Kerry AS-7
Kh-27PO/PS (Zvezda) Kegler AS-12
Kh-28 (Raduga) K-28 (D- Kyle AS-9
Kh-29 Izdeliye 9M72 Kedge AS-14
Kh-31 (Raduga) Krypton AS-17
Kh-31PM Krypton AS-X-22
Kh-35 Uran (Zvezda) Kayak AS-20
Kh-37 Uran Kayak AS-20
Kh-41 Moskit 3M80Yel
Kh-55 (Raduga) Kent AS-15
Kh-58 Izdeliye (Raduga) D-7 Kilter AS-11
Kh-59 Ovod (Raduga) D-9 Kingbolt AS-13
Kh-59M Ovod-M (Raduga) Kazoo AS-18
Kh-65S (Raduga) Kent AS-15
Kh-66 Grom (Zvezda) Kerry AS-7
Kh-90 Gela AS-X-21
Kh-101
Kh-102
Kh-SD
KS-1 Kometa Kennel AS-1
KSR-2 (Mikoyan) K-16 Kelt AS-5
KSR-5 (Raduga) K-26 (D-5) Kingfish AS-6
KSR-11 (Mikoyan) K-11 Kelt AS-5






Anti-Tank Missles

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
3M6 (PUR-61) Shmel 2K15 / 2K16 Snapper AT-1
3M11 (PUR-62) Falanga 2K8 Swatter AT-2
3M14 (PUR-64) Malyutka 9K11 / 9K14 Sagger AT-3
9M14 (PUR-64) Malyutka 9K11 / 9K14 Sagger AT-3
9M17 (PUR-62) Falanga 2K8 / 3K11 / 9K8 Swatter AT-2
9M111 Fagot/Faktoriya 9K111 Spigot AT-4
9M112 Kobra 9K112 Songster AT-8
9M113 Konkurs 9K113 / 9K111-1 Spandrel AT-5
9M114 Shturm/Ataka/Skorpion 9K113 / 9K114 Spiral AT-6
Ataka 9K113M Spiral AT-6
9M114M Shturm Spiral-2 AT-9
9M115 Metis 9K115 Saxhorn AT-7
9M116 Metis-2 9K127 Saxhorn AT-7
9M117 Bastion/Kastyet/Sheksna 9K116 Stabber/Songster AT-10
9M117M Arkan 9K116 Stabber AT-10
9M119 Refleks 9K119 Sniper AT-11
9M120 Sheksna 9K116-1 Swinger AT-12
9M120M Vikhr-M
9M123 Khrizantema 9K123 AT-15
9M128 Kobra 9K128 (9K112?) Songster AT-8
9M131 Metis-2 9K127 / 9K115 Saxhorn AT-7
Metis-M 9K115-1 AT-13
9M133 Kornet 9K135 AT-X-14






Anti-Ballistic Missles

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
A-350 Aldan A-35 Galosh ABM-1
UR-96 A-35 ABM-1
5Ya26 (PRS-1) S-225 (Test Only) ABM-2
5Ya27 (V-825) S-225 (Test Only) ABM-2
51T6 Baton A-50 Gorgon ABM-3
53T6 A-135 / A-30 Gazelle ABM-3
A-135 Gorgon ABM-4












Air-to-Air Missles

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
RS-1 Izdeliye K-5 / K-51 Alkali AA-1
RS-2 Izdeliye Alkali AA-1
R-3 Izdeliye K-13 Atoll AA-2
R-3P Izdeliye R-13P Advanced Atoll AA-2a
R-4 Izdeliye K-80 Ash AA-5
R-8 Izdeliye K-8 Anab AA-3
R-9 Izdeliye K-9 / K-155 Awl AA-4
R-13 Izdeliye K-13 Atoll AA-2
R-13M1? Izdeliye K-13M Advanced Atoll AA-2b
R-23 Izdeliye K-23 Apex AA-7
R-24 Izdeliye Apex AA-7
R-27 Izdeliye K-27 Alamo AA-10
R-30 Izdeliye Anab AA-3
R-33 Izdeliye K-33 Amos AA-9
R-37 (Vympel) Arrow? AA-X-13
R-40 (Molniya) K-40 Acrid AA-6
R-46 K-40 Acrid AA-6
R-55 K-55 Alkali AA-1
R-60 Izdeliye K-60 Aphid AA-8
R-72 (Novator) KS-172 AAM-L
R-73 Izdeliye Archer AA-11
R-77 Izdeliye Adder AA-12
R-80 K-80 Ash AA-5
R-90
R-98 Izdeliye Anab AA-3



UNGUIDED ARTILLERY ROCKETS ("FREE ROCKETS OVER GROUND")

Russian Bureau Russian GURVO NATO U.S
Number OKB Name Sys Index Designations Designations
3R-2 Filin T-5B FROG-1
3R-1 Mars T-5C FROG-2
3R-9 Luna T-5D FROG-3
3R10 Luna 2K6 FROG-3
3R-9 Luna-1 T-5E FROG-4
3R10 Luna-2 FROG-5
PV-65 FROG-6
R-65, A3R-11 Luna-M 9K21, 9K52, 9M21 FROG-7a
R-70, R-75 Luna-M 9K52, 9M21 FROG-7b




http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/missile-ru.htm

Nice info.

Would add that air to air missiles in the testing phase are called K, so before the R-37 became operational its correct designation would be K-37.

Also for anti tank missiles there are often different designations for the system based on the platform, for instance Shturm-S/Ataka-S, and Krisantema-S are land vehicle launched weapons, while the air launched equivalents will have the the letter V instead of an S.
The Hermes for helos and fixed wing aircraft is Hermes-A, with Hermes-K being the naval model.

Using K for the naval model is common like the Mig-29K.

when is Hermes going to be shown and inducted?

I would say the Mi-28M will be armed with it as standard from 2015-2017 or so... it will have the radar needed to detect targets at the 20km range of the missiles.

http://www.kbptula.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=414&lang=en

I want to discuss some of the missile profiles and their examples here.

Although I am not a expert of Russian missile weapon technology.

May be users can chip in .. we will not discuss the latest weapons but some old weapons

For i.e AS-16 KICKBACK (250 kms range) .. this is a missile which avoids plasma blanket ..how..?? It flies in stratosphere ..
  it climbs to a height of 30   kms (above dense atmosphere) and flies and then makes airframe breaking maneuver
 (dive almost vertically on to the target).

This was the most deadly weapon in soviet arsenal. This is still classified , fully in service weapon.

Second is KH-22 , KH 22M or the newest KH-32 (dont know .. russian military avoids new names for new generations)
 Now we know that these missiles  packed upto mach 6 or possibly mach number 10 in the newest versions .. X-32 ..

 KH-22 , and KH-22M fired from tu-22  gained 30 kms in altitude then went in super speed into the area of target they are all guided from sat uplink  
 or from ground radars to the area of target. Now from a distance of
 approx 30 kms(just few secs before the DIVE .. it got the precise information from glonass, tu-22 radar or even ground thermals..
 about the target and its expected position (in 5 to 6 secs) and then went into DIVE mode onto the bunker ,ship convoys ..
That is after estimating the coordinates...  it just shot point blank in a dive mode..
 its speed was about mach 6-8. Extremely high speed..

We know that Klibre gets updates from sat and radar both but its speed is generally 2.5 mach.So plasma blanket does not apply.
Research is being done on the Kalibre too. Thats why Russ mod keeps saying new models of Kalibre. Plasma blanket is one of the research areas
of Kalibre too. Americans cant make missiles so they dont even know if there some matter called plasma.

Now Iskander is interesting case .. it flies just above the atmosphere getting precise targeting information from ground and radars..
and flies in a very high mach number possibly mach 10 .. but damn it it slows down when it enters the atmosphere  .

Some experts suggest it slows to mach 4 to prevent the plasma blanket interfering in its communication and hits the bunker , target with high precision.

Now there is Moskit: Fully inservice weapon .. it flies very low but at very high speed .. mach 3.

Now about Granit and Bastion .. again they are very high mach number missiles .. well I think they fly with variable mach number ..
mach 3 .mach 6 or possibly mach 10 at various stages of flight .. when plasma covers them they go into some auto pilot mode.
Initiallly it was suggest that Bastion complexes to be used only against fixed targets .Because from start to end ..it would fly at very high mach number in total auto pilot mode.. with plasma blanket.. again I dont know how that is done..

S-300 missiles :they are also the same nature .. but they have some unique electronics which allows them to continuously track the target aircraft ..even if the missile is under plasma blanket ..  the air around the missile gets heated up and it converts into plasma .. this problem is faced in altutued upto 20 kms.. above that the missiles get full update .. from radar and sat..

As far as NATO is concerned .. NATO only knows one thing CNN, IMF, federal reserve are all plasma.. just joking .. but literally ..
NATO meaning of plasma is federal reserve .. the hottest .. no jokes here though..

For i.e AS-16 KICKBACK (250 kms range) .. this is a missile which avoids plasma blanket ..how..?? It flies in stratosphere ..
it climbs to a height of 30 kms (above dense atmosphere) and flies and then makes airframe breaking maneuver
(dive almost vertically on to the target).

AFAIK the only version that entered service was an inertially guided model that basically attacked a fixed coordinate. It was primarily a nuclear armed missile designed to take out major SAM sites or airfields in the flight path of the attacking bomber.

Basically the target was detected at long range by its emissions and its location entered into the missiles guidance system... the missile was fired at a standoff distance and rapidly climbed to high altitude and then steeply dived on the target at about Mach 5.

There was talk of an anti ship model but I have never read about any progress in that direction... a radar transparent nose cover that can resist those sorts of temperatures would be a real problem.

Second is KH-22 , KH 22M or the newest KH-32 (dont know .. russian military avoids new names for new generations)
Now we know that these missiles packed upto mach 6 or possibly mach number 10 in the newest versions .. X-32 ..

As far as I know the Kh-22M got up to about mach 3 and about 600km range, while the Kh-32 gets to about mach 4.5 over a greater range.

KH-22 , and KH-22M fired from tu-22 gained 30 kms in altitude then went in super speed into the area of target they are all guided from sat uplink

As anti ship weapons the altitude they climbed to was reportedly above 40,000m to avoid any missiles fired by US ships or aircraft.

We know that Klibre gets updates from sat and radar both but its speed is generally 2.5 mach.So plasma blanket does not apply.
Research is being done on the Kalibre too. Thats why Russ mod keeps saying new models of Kalibre. Plasma blanket is one of the research areas
of Kalibre too. Americans cant make missiles so they dont even know if there some matter called plasma.

As far as I know again... the Kalibr is a subsonic long range cruise missile. the Club anti ship missile family includes a subsonic anti ship model and a supersonic anti ship missile... the latter having a subsonic cruise for a long range and a terminal mach 3 rocket powered component to the flight to penetrate strong short range air defences as found on ships.

Now Iskander is interesting case .. it flies just above the atmosphere getting precise targeting information from ground and radars..
and flies in a very high mach number possibly mach 10 .. but damn it it slows down when it enters the atmosphere .

Some experts suggest it slows to mach 4 to prevent the plasma blanket interfering in its communication and hits the bunker , target with high precision.

Iskander has several guidance options but the most common and most accurate is a scene comparison optical system. Basically a satellite photo of the target is scanned into the missiles memory and as the missile comes in to the target area is looks for the target based on the image in its memory. Hense it is very accurate...

Now there is Moskit: Fully inservice weapon .. it flies very low but at very high speed .. mach 3.

Low altitude speed of Moskit is mach 2.2.

Now about Granit and Bastion .. again they are very high mach number missiles .. well I think they fly with variable mach number ..
mach 3 .mach 6 or possibly mach 10 at various stages of flight .. when plasma covers them they go into some auto pilot mode.
Initiallly it was suggest that Bastion complexes to be used only against fixed targets .Because from start to end ..it would fly at very high mach number in total auto pilot mode.. with plasma blanket.. again I dont know how that is done..

Both Granit and Bastion (Yakhont/Onyx) fly at mach 2-2.5 at altitude.

The next generation Zircon/Brahmos II will likely fly at mach 6-8 using scramjet engines.

What are the various emerging/ under development technologies in Missiles ( all types - cruise, air to air, ballistic etc) and missile defence systems especially in Russia & US ?

Was attending a conference related to Missile Defence in Brussels and several speakers said that several types of new technologies are emerging in the field of missile & missile defence. They did not elaborate what type.

Can anyone please elaborate ?

I think the two main technologies to effect missile design over the next few decades will be scramjet engines and increased processing power making multi sensor seekers cheap and plentiful.

Up until recently if you wanted a weapon to move fast there was no real choice except solid or liquid fuelled rocket.

With a ramjet you needed something to accelerate the object from standing still to preferably over mach 1... early attempts were long and cumbersome with a long solid booster rocket on the rear, or solid rocket boosters wrapped around the missile making it huge and bulky.

The Soviet innovation of combined rocket ramjet was an elegant solution that made such weapons much more compact and viable.

A scramjet engine offers the potential for either solid rocket and scramjet or variable cycle turbojet scramjet...

So for a missile you have a solid rocket motor accelerate and elevate the missile starting a climb and increasing speed, which then burns out and then fuel is added and a ramjet burns to accelerate the missile to higher and higher speeds.

The potential for small jet motors is interesting... the 1990s test of a tiny scramjet motor on the nose of an SA-5 SAM showed that a scramjet does not need to be big... a normal jet engine needs a subsonic airflow so flying at less than mach 1 or so the air flowing through the engine can be subsonic coming in the front and then compressed and then blow out the back at supersonic speed.
Flying at mach 3 however means the airflow needs to be slowed to subsonic speed... fuel added and then burned and then blow out the back fast enough to generate thrust in an airflow already moving at mach 3... which is not so easy.

With a scramjet you don't slow the airflow... you suck it in to the motor and then add fuel and burn it and then the air mass exits the engine at higher speed than it came in at.... which equals thrust.

A scramjet can generate thrust at supersonic speeds, which makes it much more powerful than any ramjet or turbojet engine...

Another factor for near future technology will be CCD chips which can detect light in a range of frequencies... on board real time processing will allow all sorts of targeting options previously unavailable...

GarryB wrote:I think the two main technologies to effect missile design over the next few decades will be scramjet engines and increased processing power making multi sensor seekers cheap and plentiful.

Up until recently if you wanted a weapon to move fast there was no real choice except solid or liquid fuelled rocket.

With a ramjet you needed something to accelerate  the object from standing still to preferably over mach 1... early attempts were long and cumbersome with a long solid booster rocket on the rear, or solid rocket boosters wrapped around the missile making it huge and bulky.

The Soviet innovation of combined rocket ramjet was an elegant solution that made such weapons much more compact and viable.

A scramjet engine offers the potential for either solid rocket and scramjet or variable cycle turbojet scramjet...

So for a missile you have a solid rocket motor accelerate and elevate the missile starting a climb and increasing speed, which then burns out and then fuel is added and a ramjet burns to accelerate the missile to higher and higher speeds.

The potential for small jet motors is interesting... the 1990s test of a tiny scramjet motor on the nose of an SA-5 SAM showed that a scramjet does not need to be big... a normal jet engine needs a subsonic airflow so flying at less than mach 1 or so the air flowing through the engine can be subsonic coming in the front and then compressed and then blow out the back at supersonic speed.
Flying at mach 3 however means the airflow needs to be slowed to subsonic speed... fuel added and then burned and then blow out the back fast enough to generate thrust in an airflow already moving at mach 3... which is not so easy.

With a scramjet you don't slow the airflow... you suck it in to the motor and then add fuel and burn it and then the air mass exits the engine at higher speed than it came in at.... which equals thrust.

A scramjet can generate thrust at supersonic speeds, which makes it much more powerful than any ramjet or turbojet engine...

Another factor for near future technology will be CCD chips which can detect light in a range of frequencies... on board real time processing will allow all sorts of targeting options previously unavailable...

Thanks GarryB. As usual a very well informed answer. What about other techs (for lack of a better term) like

• new propellants

• multi mode seeker

• navigation on chip



Also, the US was working on some bespoke technologies related to missile & missile defense like

Homing Overlay Experiment (HOE) vehicle. The objective of this revolutionary experiment was for one missile to destroy another outside the atmosphere using only force of impact. This was important because the ability to destroy an enemy missile without explosive warheads on the interceptor missile would minimize lethal effects on the ground.

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/100years/stories/hoe.html

ERIS (Exoatmospheric Reentry Interceptor Subsystem) ERIS missile would incorporate a kill vehicle with a long wavelength infrared scanning seeker, a data processor and flight divert attitude control propulsion motors on a two stage rocket booster.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/eris.htm


I’m also certain Russia is currently working on some exotic missile, missile defense tech stuff, but not much is know about these technologies yet