The Novator KS-172 is a Russian air-to-air missile project designed as an " AWACS killer" at ranges up to 400 km. The missile had various names during its history, including K-100, Izdeliye 172 ('project 172'), AAM-L (RVV-L), KS–172, KS-1, 172S-1 and R-172. The airframe appears to have been derived from the 9K37 Buk

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(SAM) but development stalled in the mid-1990s for lack of funds. It appeared to have restarted in 2004 after a deal with India, who wants to produce the missile in India for their

Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a two-seater, twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for th ...

fighters.

Development

Modern air forces have become dependent on airborne radars typically carried by converted airliners and transport aircraft such as the

E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weath ...

and A-50 'Mainstay'. They also depend on similar aircraft for inflight refuelling (e.g.

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a retired mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The VC10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ily ...

), maritime patrol (e.g. CP-140 Aurora), reconnaissance and electronic warfare (e.g. Tu-16 'Badger' E & J) and C4ISTAR (e.g. VC-25 "Air Force One"). The loss of just one of these aircraft can have a significant effect on fighting capability, and they are usually heavily defended by fighter escorts. A long-range air-to-air missile offers the prospect of bringing down the target without having to fight a way through the fighter screen. Given the potential importance of "blinding" Western AWACS, Russia has devoted considerable resources to this area. The R-37 missile is an evolution of their R-33 ( with a range of up to , and there have been persistent rumours – if little hard evidence – of an air-to-air missile with a range of based on Zvezda's

Kh-31 The Kh-31 (; AS-17 'Krypton') is a Soviet and Russian air-to-surface missile carried by aircraft such as the MiG-29, Su-35 and the Su-57. It is capable of Mach number, Mach 3.5 and was the first supersonic anti-ship missile that could be launched ...

anti-radar/anti-shipping missile or its Chinese derivative, the YJ-91.

NPO Novator NPO Novator (Novator Design Bureau, OKB Novator, OKB Lyulyev; ) is a Russian company that designs long-range anti-aircraft missiles. It was established in 1947 as OKB-8 in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk, became independent in 1991, and then became part ...

started work in 1991 on a very long-range air-to-air missile with the Russian project designation ''Izdeliye 172''. Initially called the AAM-L (RVV-L), it made its first public appearance at the International Defence Exhibition in Abu Dhabi in early 1993, followed by the Moscow Air Show later that year. It was described as having a range of ; the mockup on display had a strong resemblance to the 9K37M1 Buk-M (SA-11 'Gadfly'). Apparently some flight-testing was done on a Su-27, but it appears that the Russians withdrew funding for the project soon afterwards. The missile resurfaced as the KS–172 in 1999, as part of a new export-led strategy whereby foreign investment in a -range export model would ultimately fund a version for the Russian airforce. Again it appears that there were no takers. In late 2003, the missile was offered again on the export market as the 172S-1. In March 2004, India was reported to have invested in the project and to be "negotiating a partnership" to develop the "R-172". In May 2005 the Indians were said to have finalised "an arrangement to fund final development and licence produce the weapon" in a joint venture similar to that which produced the successful

BrahMos The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10) Since then the missile has had a higher profile, appearing at the 2005 Moscow Air Show on a Su-30 as the K-172, and a modified version being shown at the 2007 Moscow Air Show designated as the K-100-1. This name first appeared in a Sukhoi document in 2006, and sources such as Jane's now refer to the missile as the K-100. Supposedly the development was stopped and the project closed by 2010. However, reports which appeared in May 2025 indicated that the missile has entered service with the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

to arm the upgraded

Mikoyan MiG-31 The Mikoyan MiG-31 (; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Soviet Air Forces by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 "Foxbat"; the MiG-31 is based on and shares de ...

BM interceptor aircraft.

Design

The

mockup In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a ''prototype'' if it provides at lea ...

shown in 1993 had a strong resemblance to the Buk airframe, but since the Indians became involved there have been some changes. An Indian magazine gave the specifications of the KS–172 in April 2004 as a core 6.01 m long and 40 cm in diameter with a wingspan of 61 cm, with a booster of 1.4 m, and 748 kg total weight. It had a solid fuel tandem rocket booster capable of speeds up to , 12g manoeuvring, and an adaptive HE fragmentation warhead. Development would concentrate on the seeker head, autopilot, resistance to jamming and a steering system with 3D

thrust vector control Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the veh ...

(TVC). In May 2005 it was reported that there were two versions, with and without a rocket booster, with ranges of 400 km and 300 km respectively. At the

MAKS (air show) MAKS (, ) is an international air show held at Zhukovsky International Airport, the home of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast, Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow, Russia. The event was organized by the Russian Ministr ...

in August 2005, a range of 300 km was quoted for a streamlined missile with a small booster and fins on both booster and fuselage. However the model shown at the 2007 MAKS airshow under the name K-100 was closer to the original 1993 mockup in the photo above, with different-shaped fins that were further up the fuselage, and an even larger booster with TVC vents.See photos in "External links" section At the same show it was shown under the wing of a Su-35BM, implying that at least two could be carried by Flanker-class aircraft rather than just one on the centreline. Guidance is by

inertial navigation An inertial navigation system (INS; also inertial guidance system, inertial instrument) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning ...

until the missile is close enough to the target to use active radar for terminal homing. The K-100 has an enlarged () derivative of the Agat 9B-1103M seeker used in the R-27 (air-to-air missile) (AA-10 'Alamo'). It has a lock-on range of , described by an Agat designer as "one fifth or less of the overall range".

Variants

*KS-172

:Prototype in 1993. *KS-172S-1 Sketch-of-KS-172S1-missile 2003

:Prototype in 2003.

Similar weapons

R-37 (missile) The Vympel R-37 (NATO reporting name: AA-13 Axehead) is a Russian long-range air-to-air missile. The missile and its variants also had the names K-37, ''izdeliye'' 610 and RVV-BD (Ракета Воздух-Воздух Большой Дальн� ...

(AA-X-13/AA-13 'Arrow') was developed from the

R-33 (missile) The R-33 (, NATO reporting name: AA-9 Amos) is a long-range air-to-air missile developed by Vympel. It is the primary armament of the MiG-31 interceptor, intended to attack large high-speed targets such as the SR-71 Blackbird, the B-1 Lancer b ...

(AA-9 'Amos') and is intended for the

Sukhoi Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Sukhoi Su-27, Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, super ...

Flanker-E, Sukhoi Su-37 Flanker-F, MiG 1.42 MFI and other future fighters. According to Defence Today the range depends on the flight profile, from for a direct shot to for a cruise glide profile. Jane's reports two variants, the R-37 and the R-37M; the latter has a jettisonable rocket booster that increases the range to "300-400km" (160–220nmi). Work on the missile appears to have restarted in late 2006, as part of the MiG-31BM programme to update the Foxhound with a new radar and ground attack capability. *

(AS-17 'Krypton') – the Chinese have licensed the anti-radar version (Kh-31P) of this Russian air-to-surface missile, and may be working on an "AWACS killer" variant of their YJ-91 derivative. The Russians claim the anti-shipping version, the Kh-31A, can be adapted for use as an AWACS killer. * AIM-54 Phoenix – Now retired, a -range missile that was carried by the US Navy's

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...

. * AIM-97 Seekbat - based on the

Standard Missile Standard Missile refers to a family of American-made shipborne guided missiles: * RIM-66 Standard (SM-1MR/SM-2MR), a medium-range surface-to-air missile, the successor of the RIM-24 Tartar surface-to-air missile, currently in use by the U.S. Navy a ...

SAM, the Seekbat was an extremely long-ranged missile designed to shoot down the MiG-25 Foxbat, which at the time had almost mythical performance estimates. When the real-world performance of the Foxbat was found to be dramatically less impressive, development was cancelled. * AIM-174B Standard ERAM - an American long range naval surface to air missile that was developed into the ''AIM-174B'', an air-launched version of the SM-6 for the US Navy.

References

External links