Breaking news
Egypt first international customer for Russian 9A1472 Vikhr-1 AT-16 Scallion anti-tank guided missile TASS 12402167.
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Defence & Security News - Egypt
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| Egypt first international customer for Russian 9A1472 Vikhr-1 AT-16 Scallion anti-tank guided missile | |||
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Egypt will be the first international customer for new Russian 9A1472 Vikhr-1 (NATO reporting name: AT-16 Scallion) anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute`s (SIPRI) arms transfer database.
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 Vikhr missiles fitted to a Ka-50. (Source Wikipedia) |
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According to the database, Egypt has decided to equip the ordered 46 Ka-52 (Hokum-B) attack helicopters with Russian ATGMs. As a result, the country has chosen two types of anti-tank missiles, namely, 9A1472 Vikhr-1 and 9M120 Ataka (AT-9 Spiral-2) missiles. The contract has to be signed yet, according to the database. SIPRI did not specify the modifications and the warhead types of the missiles requested by Egypt. So, the country may acquire both anti-tank and anti-personnel 9M120 Ataka missiles. At the moment there is only anti-tank Vikhr ATGM modification developed.
As consisted with the SIPRI`s database, Egypt intends to buy about 1000 Vikhrs and the same quantity of 9M120 Ataka ATGMs. In total, the country may acquire up to 2000 of Russian missiles for Ka-52 attack helicopters. 9A1472 Vikhr laser-guided anti-tank guided missile was developed by Tula-based Instrument Design Bureau (Russian acronym: KBP, a subsidiary of the High-Precision Weapons holding) in mid-1980s. It was brought into service in 1985. Nevertheless, the batch production of the new missile was not launched. In the 2000s. the ATGM was upgraded and designated as Vikhr-1 retaining the NATO reporting name. The serial production of 9A1472 Vikhr established by Kalashnikov Group was challenged by several technical issues. By late 2015, the problems were finally solved and in October Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) received the first batch of Vikhr missiles. 9A1472 has a day/night range of 10/6 km respectively. The missile has an armour-piercing capacity of 1000mm (behind explosive reactive armour, ERA). Vikhr can be fitted to Ka-50/52 attack helicopters and Su-25T/39 close air support (CAS) aircraft. 9M120 Ataka ATGM was developed by Kolomna-based KBM company (a subsidiary of High-Precision Weapons) in mid-1990s. It has a range of 6 km and an armour-piercing capacity of 850-950mm (behind ERA). It can be fitted to Mi-28N (Havoc-B), Ka-52, Mi-24 (Hind) helicopters, 9P149/9P149M Shturm/Shturm-SM self-propelled anti-tank systems, Project 14310 patrol craft |
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