View source for 9K121 Vikhr

{{Infobox Weapon
|is_missile=yes
|name=9K121 Vikhr
|image=
|caption=
|origin= 
|type=air-launched [[anti-tank missile]]
|used_by=
|manufacturer=[[KBP Instrument Design Bureau]]
|unit_cost=Unknown
|propellant=
|production_date=
|service=Approx. 1990
|engine=Unknown
|engine_power=
|weight=45 kg
|length=2.80 m
|height=
|diameter=130 mm
|wingspan=380 mm
|speed=600m/s, Mach 1.8
|vehicle_range=8-10 km
|ceiling=
|altitude=N/A
|filling=Armor penetration behind [[Reactive armour|ERA]], 1,000 mm
|guidance=Laser beam-riding
|detonation=Proximity and Impact
|launch_platform=Helicopters
*[[Ka-50]]
*[[Ka-52]]
Aircraft
*[[Su-25|Su-25T]]
}}

'''9A1472 ''Vikhr''''' ({{lang-ru|Вихрь}}, {{lang-en|[[Whirlwind]]}}) is a [[Russia]]n laser guided [[anti-tank missile]] system. "9K121" is the [[GRAU]] designation for this system. Its [[NATO reporting name]] is ''AT-16 Scallion''. The missile is air-launched from the [[Ka-50]], [[Ka-52]] helicopters and [[Su-25|Su-25T]] aircraft. It is believed to have entered service around 1990, having been first shown publicly at the 1992 [[Farnborough Airshow]]. 

The missile is designed to engage vital ground targets, including armoured targets fitted out with built in and add-on [[Reactive armour|explosive reactive armor]], at a range of up to 8&nbsp;km when fired from a helicopter and 10&nbsp;km when fired from a fixed wing aircraft in daytime and up to 5&nbsp;km at night, as well as air targets in conditions of air defense assets activity.

The Vikhr missile is part of the Vikhr-M system, which also includes an automatic sight and a depressible launcher.

The automatic sight is provided with TV and IR channels of target sighting,
a laser beam channel of missile control, a laser rangefinder, an automatic
target tracking unit, a digital computer and a system of stabilization
and aiming of sighting and beam channels. The automatic sight
provides for target detection and identification both day and night,
automatic target tracking and missile guidance, and generates exact
information for gun and rocket firing.
The guided missile consists of a [[HEAT]] fragmentation warhead fitted with a contact and a
[[proximity fuze]], an air-dynamic control actuator, control electronics, a
motor and laser detector.  It is kept in a sealed launching transporting container.

The multi-purpose warhead (two-stage [[HEAT]] and an additional fragmentation belt) allows the missile to be used against armoured, airborne and area targets alike. This is an asset compared to the three different missiles required in the [[9M120 Ataka-V]] complex. The use of the proximity fuze allows a near miss of up to 5 m and makes it possible to engage an air target at speeds of 500m/s. 

The Vikhr missile laser beam control system provides for its precise guidance owing to data transmission to the missile in the course of its launch, which is excluded in homing
systems. The Vikhr missile control system has high [[jamming]] immunity
because its receiver faces the carrier, thereby protecting it from jamming
signals.

The high pinpoint target hit probability (reported 0.95 against stationary targets) is provided by the automatic target tracking system and highly accurate missile control system that
makes allowance for changes in the parameters of the carrier and the target
in the course of firing.

The missiles can be fired singly or in pairs (at the same target to increase lethality).

The missiles high-speed flight allows it to engage targets rapidly. The system is capable of launching Vikhr missiles against two to four targets during a 30 second period and starting at a range of 10&nbsp;km, which increases its fire power potential three to four times of earlier systems.

==Confusion with the [[9M120 Ataka-V]]==
There was much confusion toward the end of the 1980s regarding the latest Soviet anti-tank 
systems. The end of the Cold War cleared much of this up but also lead to a general failure 
to properly publicise new information. This has resulted in more than ninety percent{{Fact|date=August 2008}} of 
books published in the west including incorrect information.

The most common error is simply confusing the [[9M120 Ataka-V]] complex with the 9A1472 Vikhr 
system. These are completely different systems which have been competing for the Russian 
market. [[Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant]] favours the former, while [[Sukhoi]] and [[Kamov]] favour the latter. As some foreign [[Mi-24]] derivatives have actually been fitted with the 9A1472 the most reliable way to tell them apart is to look for the number of barrels: eight per launcher for the helicopter borne 9M120 and the fixed wing version of the 9A1472 and six per launcher for the helicopter version of the 9A1472. A four barrel launcher is typical of the [[Igla]] short range anti-aircraft missile. Russia does not use currently four barrel launchers for airborne anti-tank systems although this will possibly change with the next generation of missile (which will probably weigh considerably more).

After this error the next most common one is in understanding the guidance systems:
* The 9M120 is radio command [[SACLOS]] (Semi-Automatic Command to Line-Of-Sight) and an improved version of the popular [[9K114_Shturm|9K114]] Shturm system carried on the Mi-24V and some ground units. This system gradually loses accuracy at longer ranges (as each as radii as viewed from the launch platform encompasses more space) but can be fired in any conditions where a target can be spotted.
* On the other hand the 9A1472 is a "laser [[beam riding]] missile". When this first became known it caused much confusion in the west. Analysts simply assumed that the Soviet designers(KPB Instrument Design) had produced a weapon similar to the [[AGM-114]] Hellfire which uses [[semi-active laser homing]] (similar to laser guided bombs). Early artist impressions even went so far as to show what appears to be a miniature copy of the Kh-29L (or "[[AS-14]] Kedge" a large semi-active laser guided missile that borrows its aerodynamic design from the [[Vympel R-73|R-73]]). 

When the first good photographs appeared they lead to still more confusion: There was no 
visible seeker (causing some to believe it to be an unguided rocket system).

All of this was a long way from the mark: Russia had developed very different approach. A series of non-imaging detectors 
''face-backward'' from the missile toward the launch platform and guide the missile toward 
the centre of the laser beam (unlike semi-active laser seekers which aim for laser light 
reflect off of the target). This is much cheaper and also more resistant to countermeasures. 

To capitalise on the advantage given by using a lower cost seeker the Soviet designers also produced a new flight control system: 
Fixed fins cause the missile to spin in flight and a '''single''' moving control surface 
adjust its course during this rotation. The result is that for the same price the West could 
build one missile whereas the Soviets could build five. Any loss of effectiveness being partially 
counteracted by pilots being encouraged to fire their missiles in pairs.

==External links==
*[http://bf2.dip.jp/files/movie/weapon/Vikhrinaction_erdem.avi Vikhr in action] ([[Audio Video Interleave|AVI]]-clip)
*[http://www.airwar.ru/weapon/aat/vichr.html www.airwar.ru]

==References==
* ''Russia's Arms Catalog 2004''
* Jane's Air Launched Weapons, Issue thirty six.

{{Russian and Soviet missiles|ATM}}

[[Category:Modern anti-tank missiles]]
[[Category:Anti-tank missiles of Russia]]

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