Home > Vympel R-33

1 Development

The R-33 was developed beginning in 1972 for use by the MiG-31 interceptor. Its intended targets included the SR-71 Blackbird, the B-1 bomber, and the B-52 Stratofortress. It entered service in 1984. Similar in function and configuration to the U.S. Navy AIM-54 Phoenix, it uses a combination of semi-active radar homing for initial acquisition and mid-course update, inertial navigation to reach the target at extreme range, and active radar for terminal homing.

Starting in the mid- 1980s Vympel began working on a more advanced version, originally called the R-33E, but later redesignated the R-37, which entered service in 1996This is a list of aviation-related events from 1996: Events February the T-6 Texan II is selected as the new primary trainer for the United States armed forces. March March 15 The Fokker aircraft manufacturer is declared bankrupt. March 21 Tupolev and NAS, replacing the R-33 in production. It has a much longer-duration motor for substantially increased range, as well as more sophisticated seeker and a slightly bigger warhead.

2 Specifications (R-33 / R-37)

• Length: (R-33) 4.15 m (13 ft 7 in); (R-37) 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: (R-33) 1.16 m (3 ft 8 in); (R-37) 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in)
• Diameter: 380 mm (16 in)
• Launch weight: (R-33) 490 kg (1,080 lb); (R-37) 600 kg (1,320 lb)
• Speed: Mach 3.5
• Range: (R-33) 160 km (100 mi); (R-37) 280 km (175 mi)
• Guidance: inertial with active radar terminal homing
• Warhead: (R-33) 47.5 kg (104 lb); (R-37) 50 kg (110 lb)