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K-13 (missile)

December 15, 2023

The Vympel K-13 (NATO reporting name: AA-2 "Atoll") is a short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union. It is similar in appearance and function to the American AIM-9B Sidewinder from which it was reverse-engineered. Although it since has been replaced by more modern missiles in frontline service, it saw widespread service in many nations.

K-13
AA-2 "Atoll"
TypeShort-range infrared homing air-to-air missile
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1961
Production history
ManufacturerVympel
Specifications
Mass90 kg (200 lb) (R-13M)
Length2.830 m (9 ft 3.4 in) (R-13M)
3.48 m (11 ft 5 in) (R-3R)
Diameter127 mm (5.0 in)
Wingspan631 mm (24.8 in) (R-13M)
Warhead7.4 kg (16 lb)
Enginesolid-fuel rocket engine
Operational
range
1.0 to 3.5 kilometres (0.6 to 2.2 mi)[1]
Maximum speed Mach 2.5
Guidance
system
infrared homing
Launch
platform

Background - the Sidewinder missile edit

During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, Taiwan's F-86 Sabres faced the much higher performance mainland Chinese PLAAF MiG-17s. The MiG-17s had speed, maneuverability, and altitude advantages over the Sabres, allowing them to engage only when they desired, normally at advantageous times. In response, the US Navy rushed to modify 100 ROCAF Sabres to carry the newly introduced AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. These were introduced into combat on 24 September 1958, when a group of MiG-17s cruised past a flight of Sabres, only to find themselves under attack by missile fire. This was the first instance of guided missiles being used in air-to-air combat.[2]

On 28 September 1958,[3] a similar engagement resulted in one of the missiles becoming lodged in a MiG-17 without exploding, allowing it to be removed after landing. The Soviets later became aware that the Chinese had at least one Sidewinder, and after some wrangling, were able to persuade the Chinese to send them one of the captured missiles.[4] Gennadiy Sokolovskiy, later chief engineer at the Vympel team, said that "the Sidewinder missile was to us a university offering a course in missile construction technology which has upgraded our engineering education and updated our approach to production of future missiles."[5]

A subsequent claim was made by Ron Westrum in his book Sidewinder that the Soviets obtained the plans for the Sidewinder from Swedish Colonel and convicted spy Stig Wennerström, and rushed their version into service by 1961 copying it so closely that even the part numbers were duplicated.[6] Although Wennerström did leak information of the Sidewinder after negotiating its purchase for Sweden, none of the known Soviet sources mention this, while all explicitly mention the Chinese example.[5][dead link]

Development and early use edit

 
K-13 missile's seeker.

The Sidewinder was quickly reverse engineered as the K-13 (also called R-3 or Object 300) and entered limited service only two years later in 1960. This was followed by the improved K-13A (R-3S, Object 310), which entered service in 1962. The R-3S was the first version to enter widespread production, in spite of a very long seeker settling time on the order of 22 seconds, as opposed to 11 seconds for the original version.[5][dead link]

The R-3S was seen by the West in 1961 and given the NATO reporting name AA-2A 'Atoll'. Minimum engagement range for the R-3S is about one kilometre. All K-13 variants are physically similar to Sidewinder, sharing the 5 inch (127 mm) diameter. Subsequent examination of AA-2 missiles captured by NATO forces showed that parts from an AIM-9 could be interchanged with parts from an AA-2 and either combination would still work.[1]

While the R-3S was being introduced in 1961, work started on a semi-active radar homing (SARH) version for high-altitude use, the K-13R (R-3R or Object 320) with 8 km range,[citation needed] similar to the little-used US Navy AIM-9C Sidewinder (carried by the F-8 Crusader). This took longer to develop, and did not enter service until 1966.[5][dead link] This version was designated AA-2B by NATO.

Three training versions were also developed. The R-3U ("uchebnaya", training) was an empty missile body with a homing set, allowing pilots to get used to the aiming of the system. The R-3P ("prakticheskaya", practice) was a complete missile without an explosive warhead. The RM-3V ("raketa-mishen", target-missile) served as an aerial target.[5][dead link]

Later versions edit

 
The bottom missile with the pointed nose is the SARH R-3R.

The Vympel team started working on a more ambitious upgrade in the late 1960s, emerging as the K-13M (R-13M, Object 380) for the IRH and K-13R (R-3R) for the SARH variant, were developed in the late 1960s. These were dubbed Advanced Atoll (AA-2C and AA-2D, respectively) in the west. The R-13M was roughly equivalent to the improved USN AIM-9G Sidewinder, with a new proximity fuse, more propellant for longer range, better maneuverability, and a more sensitive nitrogen-cooled seeker head. None were all-aspect missiles. The same electronics upgrades were also applied to the Kaliningrad K-5 (AA-1) to arm fighters that did not carry the K-13.

The K-13 in different versions was widely exported to the Warsaw Pact and other air forces, and remains in service with a few smaller nations. A license-built version called A-91 was built in Romania, and the People's Republic of China copied the K-13 as the PL-2. Updated Chinese versions were the PL-3 and PL-5. Soviet Union provided China K-13 missile technology as a part of MiG-21 fighter jet deal in 1962. In 1967, China successfully completed locally produced K-13 (PL-2) missile tests, and started to deploy this missile to combat units. It was first used to intercept USAF UAVs flown from Vietnam and other south east Asian countries to mainland China.

Operators edit

 
Map with K-13 operators in blue and former operators in red
 
Serbian hybrid SAM - PASARS 16 with K-13 missile

Current operators edit

Former operators edit

Evaluation-only operators edit

Operational history edit

The K-13 missile was used by North Vietnamese MiG-21 pilots.[21] Due to the NVAF's very limited number of MiG-21s, their common tactic was to approach an American formation at maximum reasonable speed, fire their missiles in volleys, and exit the area at maximum speed to avoid engagement.

Some of these missiles were seized by Israel during the Six-Day War in the Sinai Peninsula. They were used during the War of Attrition, by Squadron 101[22] (Mirage IIICJ) and probably also by 117 and 119 squadrons, all Mirage squadrons of the Israeli Air Force. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Israelis shot down dozens of MiGs – but there had been no success in using this missile, as Israeli pilots preferred to use cannons or indigenous missiles such as Shafrir 1 and Shafrir 2.

K-3 or K-13 missiles were also used during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 by the Indian Air Force; they were integrated on MiG-21FLs and used to shoot down at least two to four Pakistani F-104 Starfighters. They were used during the Yom Kippur War by the Arab Air Forces in 1973, and during the Iran–Iraq War by the Iraqi Air Force between 1980 and 1988.

On 19 August 1981, during the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident, a Libyan Air Force Su-22 fired a K-13 missile head on at approaching US Navy F-14As; the missile was evaded.[citation needed]

Specifications (R-3S / R-3R) edit

  • Length: (R-3S) 2,830 mm (9 ft 3.4 in); (R-3R) 3,420 mm (11 ft 5 in)
  • Wingspan: 530 mm (21 in)
  • Diameter: 127 mm (5 in)
  • Launch weight: (R-3S) 75 kg (166 lb); (R-3R) 93 kg (205 lb)
  • Speed: Mach 2.5
  • Range: 0.9 to 7 km max, 2 km effective
  • Guidance: (R-3S) infrared homing; (R-3R) SARH
  • Warhead: SB03 11.3 kg (24.9 lb) blast-fragmentation
  • Explosive content: 5.3 kg of TGAF-5 (40% TNT, 40% RDX, 20% Aluminium powder)
  • Fuze: type 428 proximity fuze and I-107 Contact fuze (R-3R)

References edit

Citations
  1. ^ a b "Sidewinder Room", U.S. Naval Museum of Armament and Technology, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
  2. ^ Newsweek, Volume 52, pg. 41
  3. ^ "The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities", Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs (U.S), by National Defense University Press, pg. 277
  4. ^ Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, Sergeĭ Khrushchev, George Shriver, Stephen Shenfield, "Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Statesman, 1953-1964", pg. 443-445
  5. ^ a b c d e "AA-2 Atoll", Federation of American Scientists 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Ron Westrum, "Sidewinder: creative missile development at China Lake", pg. 206
  7. ^ "Trade Registers". armstrade.sipri.org.
  8. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (2016). "Chapter Six: Asia". The Military Balance. 116 (1): 237. doi:10.1080/04597222.2016.1127567. S2CID 219629479.
  9. ^ Cooper, Tom; Emran, Abdallah (2019). 1973: The First Nuclear War. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-911628-71-2.
  10. ^ Cooper 2018, p. 14
  11. ^ Cooper 2018, p. 16
  12. ^ Cooper et al. 2011, p. 47
  13. ^ Cooper et al. 2011, p. 90
  14. ^ Cooper 2017, p. 40
  15. ^ Chenel, Bernard; Liébert, Michel; Moreau, Eric (2014). Mirage III/5/50 en service à l'étranger. Le Vigen, France: Editions LELA Presse. p. 168. ISBN 978-2-914017-76-3.
  16. ^ Cooper et al. 2011, p. 104
  17. ^ Cooper 2017, p. 38
  18. ^ Cooper et al. 2011, p. 130
  19. ^ Cooper 2018, p. I
  20. ^ Cooper 2017, p. 54
  21. ^ . Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  22. ^ Col. Iftach Spector, "Loud and Clear"
Bibliography
  • Cooper, Tom (2017). Hot Skies Over Yemen, Volume 1: Aerial Warfare Over the South Arabian Peninsula, 1962-1994. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912174-23-2.
  • Cooper, Tom (2018). MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East, Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-23 in Service in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Syria, 1973-2018. Warwick: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912-390328.
  • Cooper, Tom; Weinert, Peter; Hinz, Fabian; Lepko, Mark (2011). African MiGs, Volume 2: Madagascar to Zimbabwe. Houston: Harpia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9825539-8-5.
  • Gordon, Yefim (2004). Soviet/Russian Aircraft Weapons Since World War Two. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-188-1.

External links edit

    December 15, 2023
    missile, vympel, nato, reporting, name, atoll, short, range, infrared, homing, missile, developed, soviet, union, similar, appearance, function, american, sidewinder, from, which, reverse, engineered, although, since, been, replaced, more, modern, missiles, fr. The Vympel K 13 NATO reporting name AA 2 Atoll is a short range infrared homing air to air missile developed by the Soviet Union It is similar in appearance and function to the American AIM 9B Sidewinder from which it was reverse engineered Although it since has been replaced by more modern missiles in frontline service it saw widespread service in many nations K 13AA 2 Atoll TypeShort range infrared homing air to air missilePlace of originSoviet UnionService historyIn service1961Production historyManufacturerVympelSpecificationsMass90 kg 200 lb R 13M Length2 830 m 9 ft 3 4 in R 13M 3 48 m 11 ft 5 in R 3R Diameter127 mm 5 0 in Wingspan631 mm 24 8 in R 13M Warhead7 4 kg 16 lb Enginesolid fuel rocket engineOperationalrange1 0 to 3 5 kilometres 0 6 to 2 2 mi 1 Maximum speedMach 2 5Guidancesysteminfrared homingLaunchplatformMiG 21 MiG 23 MiG 19 Sukhoi Su 17 20 22 Contents 1 Background the Sidewinder missile 2 Development and early use 3 Later versions 4 Operators 4 1 Current operators 4 2 Former operators 4 3 Evaluation only operators 5 Operational history 6 Specifications R 3S R 3R 7 References 8 External linksBackground the Sidewinder missile editDuring the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958 Taiwan s F 86 Sabres faced the much higher performance mainland Chinese PLAAF MiG 17s The MiG 17s had speed maneuverability and altitude advantages over the Sabres allowing them to engage only when they desired normally at advantageous times In response the US Navy rushed to modify 100 ROCAF Sabres to carry the newly introduced AIM 9 Sidewinder missile These were introduced into combat on 24 September 1958 when a group of MiG 17s cruised past a flight of Sabres only to find themselves under attack by missile fire This was the first instance of guided missiles being used in air to air combat 2 On 28 September 1958 3 a similar engagement resulted in one of the missiles becoming lodged in a MiG 17 without exploding allowing it to be removed after landing The Soviets later became aware that the Chinese had at least one Sidewinder and after some wrangling were able to persuade the Chinese to send them one of the captured missiles 4 Gennadiy Sokolovskiy later chief engineer at the Vympel team said that the Sidewinder missile was to us a university offering a course in missile construction technology which has upgraded our engineering education and updated our approach to production of future missiles 5 A subsequent claim was made by Ron Westrum in his book Sidewinder that the Soviets obtained the plans for the Sidewinder from Swedish Colonel and convicted spy Stig Wennerstrom and rushed their version into service by 1961 copying it so closely that even the part numbers were duplicated 6 Although Wennerstrom did leak information of the Sidewinder after negotiating its purchase for Sweden none of the known Soviet sources mention this while all explicitly mention the Chinese example 5 dead link Development and early use edit nbsp K 13 missile s seeker The Sidewinder was quickly reverse engineered as the K 13 also called R 3 or Object 300 and entered limited service only two years later in 1960 This was followed by the improved K 13A R 3S Object 310 which entered service in 1962 The R 3S was the first version to enter widespread production in spite of a very long seeker settling time on the order of 22 seconds as opposed to 11 seconds for the original version 5 dead link The R 3S was seen by the West in 1961 and given the NATO reporting name AA 2A Atoll Minimum engagement range for the R 3S is about one kilometre All K 13 variants are physically similar to Sidewinder sharing the 5 inch 127 mm diameter Subsequent examination of AA 2 missiles captured by NATO forces showed that parts from an AIM 9 could be interchanged with parts from an AA 2 and either combination would still work 1 While the R 3S was being introduced in 1961 work started on a semi active radar homing SARH version for high altitude use the K 13R R 3R or Object 320 with 8 km range citation needed similar to the little used US Navy AIM 9C Sidewinder carried by the F 8 Crusader This took longer to develop and did not enter service until 1966 5 dead link This version was designated AA 2B by NATO Three training versions were also developed The R 3U uchebnaya training was an empty missile body with a homing set allowing pilots to get used to the aiming of the system The R 3P prakticheskaya practice was a complete missile without an explosive warhead The RM 3V raketa mishen target missile served as an aerial target 5 dead link Later versions edit nbsp The bottom missile with the pointed nose is the SARH R 3R The Vympel team started working on a more ambitious upgrade in the late 1960s emerging as the K 13M R 13M Object 380 for the IRH and K 13R R 3R for the SARH variant were developed in the late 1960s These were dubbed Advanced Atoll AA 2C and AA 2D respectively in the west The R 13M was roughly equivalent to the improved USN AIM 9G Sidewinder with a new proximity fuse more propellant for longer range better maneuverability and a more sensitive nitrogen cooled seeker head None were all aspect missiles The same electronics upgrades were also applied to the Kaliningrad K 5 AA 1 to arm fighters that did not carry the K 13 The K 13 in different versions was widely exported to the Warsaw Pact and other air forces and remains in service with a few smaller nations A license built version called A 91 was built in Romania and the People s Republic of China copied the K 13 as the PL 2 Updated Chinese versions were the PL 3 and PL 5 Soviet Union provided China K 13 missile technology as a part of MiG 21 fighter jet deal in 1962 In 1967 China successfully completed locally produced K 13 PL 2 missile tests and started to deploy this missile to combat units It was first used to intercept USAF UAVs flown from Vietnam and other south east Asian countries to mainland China Operators edit nbsp Map with K 13 operators in blue and former operators in red nbsp Serbian hybrid SAM PASARS 16 with K 13 missileCurrent operators edit nbsp Cuba nbsp Eritrea nbsp North Korea nbsp VietnamFormer operators edit nbsp Afghanistan nbsp Algeria nbsp Angola 7 nbsp Bangladesh 8 nbsp Bulgaria nbsp China nbsp Czechoslovakia nbsp East Germany Passed on to Germany retired shortly after nbsp Egypt 9 nbsp Finland nbsp Germany Retired after the German reunification nbsp Hungary nbsp India nbsp Indonesia nbsp Iraq 10 nbsp Libya 11 nbsp Mali 12 nbsp Nigeria 13 nbsp North Yemen 14 nbsp Pakistan nbsp Peru On the Sukhoi Su 22 and the Dassault Mirage 5 15 nbsp Poland nbsp Romania nbsp Serbia nbsp Somalia 16 nbsp South Yemen 17 nbsp Soviet Union nbsp Sudan 18 nbsp Syria 19 nbsp Yemen 20 Evaluation only operators edit nbsp IsraelOperational history editThe K 13 missile was used by North Vietnamese MiG 21 pilots 21 Due to the NVAF s very limited number of MiG 21s their common tactic was to approach an American formation at maximum reasonable speed fire their missiles in volleys and exit the area at maximum speed to avoid engagement Some of these missiles were seized by Israel during the Six Day War in the Sinai Peninsula They were used during the War of Attrition by Squadron 101 22 Mirage IIICJ and probably also by 117 and 119 squadrons all Mirage squadrons of the Israeli Air Force In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Israelis shot down dozens of MiGs but there had been no success in using this missile as Israeli pilots preferred to use cannons or indigenous missiles such as Shafrir 1 and Shafrir 2 K 3 or K 13 missiles were also used during the Indo Pakistani War of 1971 by the Indian Air Force they were integrated on MiG 21FLs and used to shoot down at least two to four Pakistani F 104 Starfighters They were used during the Yom Kippur War by the Arab Air Forces in 1973 and during the Iran Iraq War by the Iraqi Air Force between 1980 and 1988 On 19 August 1981 during the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident a Libyan Air Force Su 22 fired a K 13 missile head on at approaching US Navy F 14As the missile was evaded citation needed Specifications R 3S R 3R editLength R 3S 2 830 mm 9 ft 3 4 in R 3R 3 420 mm 11 ft 5 in Wingspan 530 mm 21 in Diameter 127 mm 5 in Launch weight R 3S 75 kg 166 lb R 3R 93 kg 205 lb Speed Mach 2 5 Range 0 9 to 7 km max 2 km effective Guidance R 3S infrared homing R 3R SARH Warhead SB03 11 3 kg 24 9 lb blast fragmentation Explosive content 5 3 kg of TGAF 5 40 TNT 40 RDX 20 Aluminium powder Fuze type 428 proximity fuze and I 107 Contact fuze R 3R References editCitations a b Sidewinder Room U S Naval Museum of Armament and Technology Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Newsweek Volume 52 pg 41 The Chinese Air Force Evolving Concepts Roles and Capabilities Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs U S by National Defense University Press pg 277 Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev Sergeĭ Khrushchev George Shriver Stephen Shenfield Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev Statesman 1953 1964 pg 443 445 a b c d e AA 2 Atoll Federation of American Scientists Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Ron Westrum Sidewinder creative missile development at China Lake pg 206 Trade Registers armstrade sipri org International Institute for Strategic Studies 2016 Chapter Six Asia The Military Balance 116 1 237 doi 10 1080 04597222 2016 1127567 S2CID 219629479 Cooper Tom Emran Abdallah 2019 1973 The First Nuclear War Warwick UK Helion amp Company Publishing p 29 ISBN 978 1 911628 71 2 Cooper 2018 p 14 Cooper 2018 p 16 Cooper et al 2011 p 47 Cooper et al 2011 p 90 Cooper 2017 p 40 Chenel Bernard Liebert Michel Moreau Eric 2014 Mirage III 5 50 en service a l etranger Le Vigen France Editions LELA Presse p 168 ISBN 978 2 914017 76 3 Cooper et al 2011 p 104 Cooper 2017 p 38 Cooper et al 2011 p 130 Cooper 2018 p I Cooper 2017 p 54 Air War North Vietnam Time Line Archived from the original on 18 December 2012 Retrieved 12 November 2011 Col Iftach Spector Loud and Clear BibliographyCooper Tom 2017 Hot Skies Over Yemen Volume 1 Aerial Warfare Over the South Arabian Peninsula 1962 1994 Solihull UK Helion amp Company Publishing ISBN 978 1 912174 23 2 Cooper Tom 2018 MiG 23 Flogger in the Middle East Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG 23 in Service in Algeria Egypt Iraq Libya and Syria 1973 2018 Warwick Helion amp Company Publishing ISBN 978 1 912 390328 Cooper Tom Weinert Peter Hinz Fabian Lepko Mark 2011 African MiGs Volume 2 Madagascar to Zimbabwe Houston Harpia Publishing ISBN 978 0 9825539 8 5 Gordon Yefim 2004 Soviet Russian Aircraft Weapons Since World War Two Hinckley England Midland Publishing ISBN 1 85780 188 1 External links editChinese PL 2 air to air missile Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title K 13 missile amp oldid 1161898250 Later versions, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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