The Kh-31P medium-range supersonic anti-radiation missile is designed to counter enemy air defenses and has a high supersonic speed through the use of a scramjet with a built-in booster.
The Kh-31A anti-ship missile with an active radar seeker, derived from the Kh-31P, is capable of penetrating cohesive and layered air defense of a large group of ships. It can be carried by MiG-29K, MiG-29M, MiG-29SMT, MiG-29UBT, MiG-31, Su-24M, Su-25T, Su-30MK, and Su-35 aircraft.
The missiles employ mid-course radar guidance and terminal homing. The Kh-31A is equipped with the ARGSN-31 jam-resistant active radar guidance system capable of discriminating the target from a dense homogenous group. The Kh-31P uses a passive radar guidance system capable of operating in a broad band of frequencies. Its seeker can operate in several homing modes, including automatic search and external control modes. If irradiated by an enemy radar, the missile can perform an evasive 10-g pull-up maneuver.
Warhead type: penetrating, armor-piercing.
Aircraft carrier’s radars like the Zhuk, Kopio and others are used for target detection. The missiles are transported and stored in sealed containers.
Missile versions:
Kh-31A – an anti-ship version designed to engage ships displacing up to 4,500 tons.
Kh-31P – an anti-radiation version designed to destroy medium- and long-range SAM systems’ radars, air operations control radars and early warning radars