Army-2024 – The new Kh-MD-E missile will allow Ka-52 helicopters to hit targets at 40 km range
The Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) presented the Kh-MD-E short-range cruise missile at the Army-2024 military exhibition. The missile was exhibited in the KTRV pavilion, as well as at the static display of helicopters of the Russian Helicopters holding company (part of the Rostec state corporation)
According to information provided by KTRV, the Kh-MD-E short-range joint multipurpose homing missile has a modular design and is intended to hit a wide range of small single and group targets at day and night, including ground armoured, surface missile boat-type, as well as radio-emitting targets.
The missile is equipped with a solid-fuel rocket engine, the trapezoidal wing and the tail unit fins wing being deployed after launch. The launch range is 40 km, while the missile can be launched at altitudes up to 9,000 metres. The Kh-MD-E is 2.4 metres long, it has a diameter of 0.2 metres and a tail span of 0.4 metres. It is equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 30 kg, the launch weight of the missile being 110 kg.
The missile is produced in two variants, both of which have a common inertial navigation system that ensures flight during the cruising portion of the trajectory and is corrected by signals from a jam-proof satellite navigation system. The two variants differ only in their homing seekers. The Kh-MD-E1 is equipped with a semi-active laser seeker, while the Kh-MD-E2 variant is equipped with an active radar seeker.
It should be noted that the Kh-MD-E missile was demonstrated in the KTRV pavilion at the “Army-2021” exhibition under the designation Kh-50E-001 without any additional information. At that time, it was only reported that this product was intended to equip “Orion”-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which began to be modified from reconnaissance to reconnaissance and attack version.
At the “Army-2024” exhibition, the Kh-MD-E missile in its flight configuration was placed next to the Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter, which may indicate the possibility of being used by such helicopters against ground targets located at a distance of up to 40 km from the launch zone.
Photo by N. Morris
