Vietnam's defense industry is making steady progress in the high-tech field with the research and manufacturing of a new generation of air defense missile systems.
 |
| In recent years, Vietnam's defense industry has achieved many successes in ensuring equipment and researching and manufacturing new types of weapons. In particular, our country's defense industry is steadily advancing into many areas of high-tech weapon research - typically air defense missiles. Photo source: Air Defense Museum |
 |
| According to PK-KQ Newspaper, the PK-KQ Technical Institute is aiming to design and manufacture a close-range air defense missile system using P-13M aviation missiles... Photo source: PK-KQ Museum |
 |
| After the MiG-21 is retired, our air force will certainly have a large number of P-13M or R-13M air-to-air missiles left over - a version of the Vympel K-13 missile line. This is the type of missile that we used very successfully in the resistance war against the US, shooting down many types of modern fighter aircraft, including the B-52 "Flying Fortress" and the F-4 Phantom II fighter. Photo source: Airlines.net |
 |
| Reusing the P-13M missiles to turn them into air defense weapons is a reasonable solution, saving a significant amount of the defense budget in the context of our country's many difficulties. Photo source: Airlines.net |
 |
| The P-13M, also known as the K-13M or R-13M or Object 380, is a modernized version of the Vympel K-13 short-range air-to-air missile. It was officially introduced in 1974. Photo source: Airlines.net |
 |
| The R-13M is considered equivalent to the US Navy's AIM-9G Sidewinder with a new contact fuze, a more powerful engine for higher range, more maneuverability, and an improved infrared seeker. Photo source: Wikipedia |
 |
| According to some documents, the maximum range of the P-13M is 15km, the minimum is 900m, equipped with an 11.3kg fragmentation warhead containing 5.3kg of TGAF-5 explosive (40% TNT, 40% RDX and 20% aluminum fragments). Photo source: Wikipedia |
 |
| In fact, Vietnam's plan to convert air-to-air missiles into air-to-ground missiles is not new. Before that, some countries had applied this plan and were very successful. A typical example is the NASAMS low-altitude air defense missile system developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg and put into use in 1998. Photo source: Skandinavia.live |
 |
| NASAMS uses the American-made AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile. A complex consists of several NASAMS self-propelled launchers (each with 6 box-shaped launchers), an AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel fire control radar station and a command post. Photo source: World Wide Military |
 |
| However, there is a special thing about this type of weapon: the range of the air-to-air missile when transferred to the ground is always much shorter. The AIM-120 fired in the air has a maximum range of 180km, but if launched from the ground, the range is only 25km at most. Photo source: Modern Weapons |
 |
| In addition to NASAMS, the SPYDER air defense missile system that Vietnam recently imported from Israel also uses aviation missiles. Photo source: Wikipedia |
 |
| SPYDER is equipped with two main types of ammunition, including Python-5 and Derby, which are both air-to-air missiles developed by Israel for its modern fighters. The range of Python-5 in the air is up to 25km, Derby up to 50km, however, if fired from the ground, their range is only about 9-15km. Photo source: Rafael Advanced Defense System Ltd |
 |
| Or the MIM-72 Chaparral developed by the US which also uses AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. This weapon served in the US Army from 1969-1998 and was exported to many countries around the world. Photo source: Wikipedia |
 |
| The AIM-9's range in the air is up to 35km, but when deployed on the ground, its range is from 500 to 9,000m, and its altitude is from 25m to 4,000m. Therefore, if fired from the ground, the Vietnamese P-13M model's range would probably be only 5-7km. Firing from the ground is affected by air resistance, and gravity naturally consumes more fuel, significantly shortening the range. Photo source: Alamy |
According to Kienthuc
