R-13M1 & R-14 Atoll air-to-air missiles

[Blitzer9856]

This is an obscure missile..

I am wondering, does anybody have information on its maximum body G load and tracking rate in degrees per second?

This is what I personally know (quoting myself from sources I have):

The R-13M1 is a development of the R-13M that was undergoing work even before the R-13M was introduced. Vympel began working on the R-13M's improvement already in 1973 (the R-13M was introduced in 1974) and began tests in 1975 until its introduction in late 1976. During that period, one unspecified MiG-21 version together with one MiG-21bis, two MiG-23 and one MiG-23ML launched a total of 19 telemetry and 19 combat test specimens of the R-13M1. In addition, one MiG-23 together with two MiG-23ML and one export MiG-23MS were reserved for the state examination program. Changes over the R-13M include the new canard design, which was influenced by AIM-9J examples stolen from a South Korean airbase in the early 70s. The new canards significantly increased its maneuverability, and the INEY-70 seeker of the R-13M was replaced with the INEY-M which increased the missile's view from 28° to 40°. The missile retained the 11.3 kg warhead, the DWP-240 rocket motor with a burn time of 4.5 seconds and the same flight time of 54 seconds.

In the previous R-13M missile, the tracking rate was 12°/s, the launch limitation was 3.7G and it could track targets pulling up to 5G. The R-13M1 improved on this with 6G and 7G respectively. The new, more sensitive seeker also improved its maximum seeker range from 15 km to 17 km.


However, tuning the R-13M1 into a fully eligible weapon for service was somewhat delayed. Therefore, was officially included in the VVS armament only on January 18, 1982 (together with the MiG-23ML aircraft), and was produced at the production plant No. 43 Kommunar, where it enjoyed a production run from 1977 till 1981. The missile saw limited service within the USSR, and was never exported. It was retired in 1988.

What I don't know though, and what I would really appreciate is if someone has any idea on the tracking rate of the R-13M1 and its maximum G load. For example in the air the AIM-9J could pull up to 22G, and track at 16.5°/s. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

There is also another missile in the family, which is like twice more obscure..

While work was underway on fourth generation jet fighters such as the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the late 70s, in 1974 Vympel OKB proposed yet another new missile based on the K-13 series to replace the R-13M and R-13M1 for those new jet fighters. At that time, the R-13M1 was about to enter service and was in the shadow of the R-60/R-60M. However, this did not stop them from improving on the series even more. They were considered as the cheap alternatives to more advanced missiles. The plan was to replace the R-13M1 with the K-14 / R-14, and the R-60/R-60M with the upcoming R-73 missile.

The company begun developing the new missile, while in the meantime they were also working on the R-73. Results have shown that with an increase in mass, the R-73 became all aspect and thus became a direct competitor to the R-14, threatening its future.

The R-14 was elongated enough to have caused a reduction in aerodynamic drag, but at the same time it required a higher moment of intertia and so they developed the "duck" scheme to increase its control forces for maneuvering. This was however problematic still, as the missile had limited angles of deflection for its rudders, which meant that at high AoA they lost their effectiveness due to stalling. A possible solution was the use of aerodynamic rudders on a feathered base to reduce the effective angle of attack. With this scheme, it was determined only by the rudder deflection angle, and not the sum of this value with the angle of attack of the rocket body. Despite this, the proposal of GosNIIAS, as well as another recommendation of the specialists of this institute, proposed to abandon the "pilotless" control scheme as it was not accepted by the designers of Vympel. To increase the efficiency of rudders at high angles of attack, destabilizers were used to straighten the flow.

The missile officially entered testing in 1978. A MiG-23ML no.123 was used as its carrier, and a total of five launches were made.


Despite being characteristically similar to its competitors (the R-60M and R-73), work on it was halted in favor of the more promising R-73. The program was officially concluded on the 14th of June, 1979.

No pictures of it exist. I think it would be a miracle if someone found one. It was only launched five times, from a MiG-23ML, and never entered service.

Sources used:

MiG-23: To Protect the Skies of the Motherland (Victor Markovsky)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23/27: Soviet Swing Wing Fighter/Strike Aircraft (Y. Gordon)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29: Famous Russian Aircraft (Y. Gordon)
Soviet/Russian Weapons Since WW2 (Y. Gordon)

 

[DWG]

so they developed the "duck" scheme to increase its control forces for maneuvering.

Not really relevant to the question, but I suspect 'the "duck" scheme' probably means the canards.

 

[Blitzer9856]

so they developed the "duck" scheme to increase its control forces for maneuvering.

Not really relevant to the question, but I suspect 'the "duck" scheme' probably means the canards.

It does.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

R-13M1 wasn't exported, which is why it's hard to find info on.

 

[Blitzer9856]

R-13M1 wasn't exported, which is why it's hard to find info on.

That and the fact it was only in limited service. Rarely did the MiG-21bis and MiG-23/27s use it. I think the MiG-23MLD and the MiG-23BM were the ones that used it the most. I'm led to that belief because the only existing real photograph of it is seen loaded under an MLD's wing, and the MiG-23BM used the R-13M quite often; the R-13M1 was backwards compatible with the APU-13MTs.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

R-13M
"The high speed of development of the coordinator (the movable sensitive element of the TGSN, which produces the direction finding of the target), which more than doubled compared to the R-3S and reached 12deg/s, provided the rocket with the ability to track a rapidly maneuvering target without disrupting the capture"


R-13M1
"For maneuverable close combat, a variant of the R-13M1 (product 380M) was developed with the Iney-M seeker, a slightly enlarged wing and a modified geometry of the steering surfaces. The R-13M1 had better controllability at small radii of turns and large angles of attack and could be used at overloads of up to 5-6 g, however, the unreliability of a radio fuse of a new design led to its early removal from service."

Source:
"Советские авиационные ракеты "Воздух-воздух" (Soviet Air-to-Air Missiles) by Markovsky & Perov.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Interesting side note -

Rocket K-13MK ("product 380.1")

In accordance with the decree of the party and government of December 26, 1968, the K-13MK missile ("product 380.1") was developed for the MiG-21S with a combined thermal radar seeker PARG-50VV. As expected, the creation of such a seeker, especially for a light missile like the K-13, turned out to be a very difficult task. The main elements of the experimental missiles were manufactured in 1972, but until 1974 there were no combined seeker. Only in 1975, after the main (thermal) version was adopted, the K-13MK was brought to the stage of flight tests. We carried out nine launches at parachute and aircraft targets, after which work in this direction was stopped.

The K-14 was also proposed with a combined IR/SARH seeker in 1976.

From Domestic guided air-to-air missiles Part 1. Short-range missiles by Angelsky in Техника и вооружение 2005 09

 

[Blitzer9856]

R-13M
"The high speed of development of the coordinator (the movable sensitive element of the TGSN, which produces the direction finding of the target), which more than doubled compared to the R-3S and reached 12deg/s, provided the rocket with the ability to track a rapidly maneuvering target without disrupting the capture"


R-13M1
"For maneuverable close combat, a variant of the R-13M1 (product 380M) was developed with the Iney-M seeker, a slightly enlarged wing and a modified geometry of the steering surfaces. The R-13M1 had better controllability at small radii of turns and large angles of attack and could be used at overloads of up to 5-6 g, however, the unreliability of a radio fuse of a new design led to its early removal from service."

Source:
"Советские авиационные ракеты "Воздух-воздух" (Soviet Air-to-Air Missiles) by Markovsky & Perov.

Do you have a link to that please?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Its a book - https://www.labirint.ru/books/82201/

You can probably find a copy to read online somewhere.

 

[Blitzer9856]

Its a book - https://www.labirint.ru/books/82201/

You can probably find a copy to read online somewhere.

Thanks!

Interesting side note -

Rocket K-13MK ("product 380.1")

In accordance with the decree of the party and government of December 26, 1968, the K-13MK missile ("product 380.1") was developed for the MiG-21S with a combined thermal radar seeker PARG-50VV. As expected, the creation of such a seeker, especially for a light missile like the K-13, turned out to be a very difficult task. The main elements of the experimental missiles were manufactured in 1972, but until 1974 there were no combined seeker. Only in 1975, after the main (thermal) version was adopted, the K-13MK was brought to the stage of flight tests. We carried out nine launches at parachute and aircraft targets, after which work in this direction was stopped.

The K-14 was also proposed with a combined IR/SARH seeker in 1976.

From Domestic guided air-to-air missiles Part 1. Short-range missiles by Angelsky in Техника и вооружение 2005 09

What the.. wow, okay. That's very interesting.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

China Lake proposed a combined IR/SARH seeker for Sidewinder in the 1950s.

OKB-134 were supposed to use a combined seeker on the R-23 in the mid 1960s, but it was apparently too difficult to get working and they fell back on separate radar and IR seekers.

In the late 1980s the AAAM Phoenix replacement was supposed to use dual mode IR/Radar seekers.

 

[GARGEAN]

And, despite all that, there are STILL no AAM with dual mode seeker fielded... Interesting ways of history.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

AAMs, no. SAMs, yes.

 

[qwerty123]

Do u have any informations about motor burn time?

 

[Aeria Gloria]

Do u have any informations about motor burn time?

Hello again! I could not find anything, however there is a reference in a MiG-23MF manual to only fire a salvo of them at an interval of 4-6 seconds to avoid locking onto the motor. So it’s almost sure that the rocket motor burn times falls within that range depending on temperature.