The Bisnovat (later Molniya) R-40 (NATO reporting name AA-6 'Acrid') was a long-range air-to-air missile developed in the 1960s by the Soviet Union for used by interceptor aircraft.

Development

The Bisnovat design bureau began development of a long-range air-to-air missile in 1962. The resulting R-40 was initially matched with the Smerch-A (Tornado-A) radar of the MiG-25. It was built in semi-active radar homing (R-40R) and infrared-homing (R-40T) versions.

Following the defection of PVO pilot Viktor Belenko in 1976, Vympel developed an improved version of the missile with superior countermeasures resistance and more sensitive seekers. The upgraded missiles were designated with the suffix -D (for dorabotanaya, "more elaborate"). Later -D1 versions were also developed.

Production of the R-40 ended in 1991, but it remains in limited service arming surviving MiG-25 and some MiG-31 interceptors.

Specifications (R-40TD / R-40RD)

• Length: (R-40TD) 5.98 m (19 ft 7.5 in); (R-40RD) 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
• Wingspan: 1450 mm (4 ft 9 in)
• Diameter: 310 mm (12.2 in)
• Launch weight: (R-40TD) 450 kg (990 lb); (R-40RD) 461 kg (1,015 lb)
• Speed: Mach 2
• Range: 30 km (19 mi); 60 km (37 mi)
• Guidance: (R-40TD) infrared homing; (R-40RD) semi-active radar homing
• Warhead: 70 kg (154 lb) blast fragmentation

External Links

• Federation of American Scientists page
• GlobalSecurity.org page