Bisnovat R-40 Russian AAM

The Bisnovat R-40 (AA-6 'Acrid') was a long-range air-to-air missile developed in the 1960s by the Soviet Union for use by interceptor aircraft.

The Bisnovat design bureau began development of a long-range air-to-air missile in 1962. The resulting R-40 was initially matched with the Smerch-A ('Tornado-A') radar of the MiG-25. It was built in semi-active radar homing (R-40R) and infrared-homing (R-40T) versions.

Following the defection of PVO pilot Viktor Belenko in 1976, Vympel developed an improved version of the missile with a better infrared countermeasures (IRCM) resistance and more sensitive seekers. The upgraded missiles were designated with the suffix -D (for 'development', "finalized"). Later -D1 versions were also developed.

Production of the R-40 ended in 1991, but it remains in limited service arming surviving MiG-25 and some MiG-31 interceptors.

Bisnovat R-40
Type	Air-to-air missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1970- present
Used by	Soviet Union, Syria, Iraq
Wars	Gulf War, Operation Southern Watch
Production history
Designed	1959
Produced	1960s- 1991
Specifications
Weight	(R-40TD) 450 kg (990 lb); (R-40RD) 461 kg (1,020 lb)
Length	(R-40TD) 5.98 m (19 ft 7 in); (R-40RD) 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
Diameter	31 cm (12 in)
Warhead	blast fragmentation
Warhead weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Detonation mechanism	Radar and active laser fuzes
Engine	solid-propellant rocket motor
Wingspan	1,450 mm (4 ft 9 in)
Operational range	30–60 km (19–37 mi)
Speed	Mach 4.5
Guidance system	(R-40TD) infrared homing; (R-40RD) semi-active radar homing
Launch platform	MiG-25, MiG-31