Kh-31 ‘Krypton’ Killing Ukraine’s Air Defenses

By
Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff
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3
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DISCLOSURE: Sourced from Russian government funded media

SF: The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) have been hunting down Ukrainian air defense and radar systems using anti-radiation missiles.

On March 5, Ukrainian sources shared photos showing the wreckage of a Kh-31P anti-radiation missile in the Donetsk region.



The remains of a similar missile were found in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on February 24, the first day of the Russian special military operation in the country.

The Kh-31P, which is manufactured by Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, is equipped with the L-111E seeker that has a unique antenna consisting of an interferometer array of seven spiral antennas mounted on a steerable platform. The seeker can detect a range of radar types. The missile guidance is also backed by an inertial navigation system.

The original version of the anti-radiation missile had a range of 110 kilometers. However, in 2012, an improved version, dubbed Kh-31PD, with an extended range entered production.

The Kh-31, which weights 600 kilograms, can be fitted to almost any of Russia’s tactical fighter jets, from the Mig-29 to the Su-34, Su-35 and the Mig-31.

A seemingly identical anti-ship version of the missile, dubbed Kh-31A, was developed. This version is equipped with an active radar seeker.

So far, the Kh-31P has been the VKS’s go-to-weapon for SEAD [Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses] operations over Ukraine. The air force has been also using Eniks E95M aerial targets as decoys to trick and test Ukrainian air defense systems.

The VKS’s SEAD tactics appears to be paying off. On March 5, five Ukrainian radars and two Buk-M1 air-defense systems were destroyed, according to the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. I expect that if they do not exist already, we shall be faced soon with missiles which will seek out and home in on individual phone numbers!

  2. In the first Ukraine war “ending” in 2015, the russian missles would detect and target cell-phone signals.
    What really brought it to close, is the Donbass militias had surrounded and cut-off a large chunk of the Ukrainian army in E Ukraine, as the Ukrainian army had moved too far east then got out flanked on both sides, and the exit retreat-route pinched shut.
    The soldiers were concentrated in one area, so the Donbass people rained russian missles on them until they surrendered, and the Ukraine army was forced to negotiate the Minsk agreements to end the slaughter.
    What happened was the Ukrainian soldiers were using their cellphones to call home, and the Russian missles zeroed in on the cellphone signals.

    I read this in reports from a Russian guy back then named colonel “something or other” (anyone remember him cant remember his last name maybe he is doing reports on war now too)
    I played soccer with a Russian-Finnish guy, and asked him what the heck is going on in Ukraine back then, all I get is RT or CN , and he said to look at this guys website and he tells exactly what is going on.
    He was only one who gave detailed daily reports of the war with maps and where frontlines were and such.

    This perhaps one reason why the Russians left the cell phone towers intact in Ukraine…also internet works fine too…seems like cutting off communications would be first thing you would do in an invasion but Russia did not.

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