Will Vietnam's Su-30MK2s be equipped with domestically produced smart rockets?

During live-fire training exercises, while Mi-8/17 helicopters and Su-22 attack aircraft typically use S-5 rockets, Su-30MK2 fighter jets are equipped with the more advanced S-8 rockets.

The S-8 is an 82 mm unguided rocket developed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1970s to replace the less effective 55 mm S-5 rocket.

The S-8 rocket possesses significantly greater power and accuracy than the S-5 while remaining small enough to be carried in large numbers by aircraft. This weapon was officially accepted into service with the Soviet Air Force in 1984.

The S-8 rocket has 14 variants with different warheads, including the S-8K anti-armor/personnel fragmentation warhead; the S-8B anti-bunker/fortification warhead; the S-8D thermobaric warhead; the S-8O tracer warhead; the S-8P decoy warhead; and the S-8S rocket-propelled warhead. The variants range in length from 1.54 to 1.7 m; weight from 11.1 to 15.2 kg; and range from 2 to 4 km.

B-8M1 launcher for S-8 rockets

The dedicated launchers for the S-8 rocket are the B-8M1, equipped for fixed-wing aircraft such as the MiG-27, MiG-29, Su-17/22, Su-24, Su-25, and Su-27/30; and the B-8V20A, compatible with Mi-8/17, Mi-24/28, and Ka-50/52 helicopters.

The B-8M1 and B-8V20A launchers carry 20 rounds each; there is also the smaller and lighter B-8V7 launcher which carries only 7 rounds, however, this type of launcher can be mounted on both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

In addition to the aforementioned advantages over the S-5 rocket, the S-8 also has the advantage of being large enough to accommodate an accessory kit for conversion into a guided rocket.

This method was implemented by the US Army with the 70 mm Hydra-70 rocket; after being integrated with a laser guidance system, this type of projectile is capable of accurately striking ground targets, comparable to the AGM-65 Maverick or AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

After being fitted with a laser guidance system, the Hydra-70 became a smart rocket.

Returning to the case of Vietnam, currently, officers and engineers of the Air Defense - Air Force Engineering Institute have a project to smarten up free-falling bombs using a method widely applied worldwide, which is to add a laser-tracking guidance system.

In principle, laser guidance devices mounted on bombs or rockets are similar; once conventional bombs have been successfully converted into smart bombs, converting unguided rockets into guided ones is well within reach.

With the strong development of the country's defense industry in recent times, it is predicted that in the not too distant future, Vietnam's Su-30MK2 multirole fighter jets will be equipped with domestically produced guided rockets based on modifications to existing S-8 rockets in stock.

This is a cost-effective solution that delivers extremely powerful combat results.

According to Baodatviet