With Meteor Missiles, Ukraine's Gripen Fighters Could Finally Match Russia's Sukhois With Their Deadly R-37s
The R-37 and Meteor both range 120 miles or farther
The Russian air force’s most important air-to-ground munition, the KAB precision glide bomb, ranges around 40 miles under the best circumstances. The Ukrainian air force’s most important air-to-air munition, the AIM-120, ranges as far as 57 miles.
In theory, a combat air patrol of Ukrainian Lockheed Martin F-16s armed with AIM-120s should be able to shoot down Russian Sukhoi Su-30s and Su-34s before they release their KABs.
But there’s a problem. It’s standard practice for a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 to escort the KAB carriers—and an Su-35 armed with R-37 very long range air-to-air missiles can outshoot the F-16s with their AIM-120s. An R-37 ranges farther than 120 miles in certain flight profiles.
Don’t doubt the importance of the KAB, a gravity bomb with a bolt-on wings and a satellite navigation kit. Russian industry churns out thousands of the bombs every month at a unit of cost of just $25,000 or so.
Russian jets lob as many as 100 KABs a day along the front line of Russia’s 48-month wider war on Ukraine, flattening Ukrainian defenses and fraying Ukrainian supply lines.
Blunting the glide bombing campaign is a top priority in Kyiv. And that’s one reason why, late last year, the Ukrainian government inked a letter of intent with the Swedish government for the acquisition of more than 100 Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen fighters for the Ukrainian air force.
The Gripen is compatible with the ubiquitous AIM-120, of course—but it’s also compatible with the MBDA Meteor long-range air-to-air missile, which may range farther than 120 miles thanks it its ramjet motor.
