The Kh38 missile is a new generation of air-to-surface missile developed by Russia. It will replace the Kh25 air-to-surface missile currently in operation by the Russian Air Force, and may also replace the Kh29, mainly used to combat ground armor, surface ships and ground affairs. After about two years of secret testing in 2012, the Russian Air Force officially received the first batch of KH38s in December 2012. There are Su-34, Su-57, Su-25SM, Su-35S, Su-30SM2 that can be equipped with this missile.
The Sukhoi Design Bureau is actually just an aircraft design bureau. There are two factories actually responsible for producing Su-27 fighter jets. The first is the Komsomol-on-Amur Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, which is the factory that provides Su-27SK and Su-30MKK to China; the other is the Irkusk Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, which is the factory that provides Su-30MKI to India. As a result, two technical routes were formed, the Su 30MK of Komsomolsk and the Su 30M of Irkut.
Due to Russia’s domestic economic problems, each factory is now basically responsible for a series of production and subsequent upgrades. The Komsomolsk factory is responsible for the Su-35, Irkutsk is responsible for the Su-30SM, and the Novosibirsk factory is responsible for the Su-34 to ensure that every factory can survive.
As for the Indian Air Force’s Su30mki on the technical route of the Irkusk plant, the actual purchase of the first batch of Su30mki was actually a small improved version of the Su27UB such as the addition of oil pipelines, also known as the Su30K. After the actual assembly of the Su30mkl in 2002, the aircraft were returned to Russia. Subsequently, the Su30K was sold by Russia to the Angora Air Force. Then in 2003, Malaysia began to order the Su30mKm, which was a model that improved Western avionics from India’s Su30mKi.
India began purchasing Su 30mKi in 1996, and Russia first delivered Su 30K. In 2000, India and Russia reached an agreement that Russia transferred Su 30mKi production lines and technical licenses to India, but it was not until 2002 that it began to deliver Su 30mKi to India. Subsequently, India was unable to fully absorb Su 30mki technical capabilities, and subsequently purchased Su 30mKi from Russia multiple times between 2007 and 2010. Moreover, India has repeatedly proposed to upgrade the Su-30mki in service and replace its radar, engine and other equipment. But until 2025, the Su 30mKi in India has not been upgraded.
In 2012, Russia used the technical foundation of the Su-30MKI to improve the new Su-30SM, and both radar and avionics have undergone a large number of changes.
Another technical route on the Communist Youth League started with the Su-27sK purchased by China in 1996, and began to deliver the Su-30mKK to China in 2000. At that time, China’s procurement required Russia to upgrade to a larger range, a larger bomb payload, and a higher service life.
Then, in 2004, China delivered the Su-30mKK2. China required Russia to upgrade fire control, radar and a large number of electronic systems, and focused on strengthening the Su-30mKK2 air-to-ship capabilities. Subsequently, this type of fighter plane was modified to be the Su30mk2v model exported to Vietnam in 2004. Vietnam required improvement of the fire control system, changing from mainly air-to-sea attacks to mainly air-to-air attacks. The other was the Su30mk2 AmV exported to Venezuela in 2006. Venezuela does not require air-to-air attacks to be mainly based on Vietnam, and its configuration is basically the same as that of China’s Su30mK2.
In 2002, Russia’s Su27SM was introduced in an improved model that absorbed technology from Russia’s Su27sK and China’s Su30mKK. Its engines, electronic systems, and radars were upgraded, and it was equipped with a fire control system of the same level as the Su30MK2 fighter jets exported to China. Therefore, the Su-27SM fighter jet can theoretically be the same as China’s Su-30MK2 fighter jet.
In 2007, Russia’s Su-27sm2 was improved from Su-27sm. The export number was Su-35Bm, and the Russian self-use number was Su-35S. In 2013, China purchased Su-35SK from Russia. This batch of Su-35SK has the same configuration as the Su-35s used by the Russian military.
Then based on the technical feasibility of equipping the KH38, the Malaysian Su 30mkm is actually not feasible.
To supplement the above, although the Kh38 was established around 1990, due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Russia’s poor economic situation, it actually appeared for the first time around 2007. Although I hate to admit it, a major factor in the revival of this batch of large-scale new missiles is China’s funding from Russia to purchase new military technology after the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. This is reflected in many Russian factories and technical research institutes. At that time, China’s main attack target was the U.S. aircraft carrier. China was more willing to purchase the Kh59 project, but the relatively poor performance of the Kh59 made China always seek new types of ammunition at that time. (These military technology is actually only owned by the United States, France, Germany, and Russia. The performance is relatively poor just because there are only a few countries in comparison. China gradually caught up with the forefront of world military technology development after 2012)
As for the slow development of projects such as kh38Mt mentioned below, the fundamental reason is Russia’s poor economy. Since China’s main target for sea attacks is U.S. aircraft carriers, the KH59 series, which has larger and heavier warheads, has actually been receiving financial support from China.
For the kh38 displayed in 2007, the actual manufacturer’s testing time should be estimated forward by 2-4 years. After the Russian Air Force went through about two years of secret testing in 2012, it was not until December 2012 that the Russian Air Force officially received the first batch of KH38.
At that time, the two factories manufacturing the Su-27, Irkuzsk and Komsomolsk, were in different situations.
The Iksk factory imposed a certain technical blockade on China because China purchased the Su27ubk and was unwilling to jointly develop the Su30m series. Although the Su30m subsequently received financial support from India, in fact the funds were still distributed among multiple projects in Russia. And because of Irkusk’s advancement in Su-30KN and other projects, Sukhoi Company has very strong objections to the Irkusk factory. At the same time, India’s Su30mki has more requirements for fighting against Pakistan, and India needs more anti-air attack aircraft.
On the other side of the Komsomolsk factory, due to Russia’s systemic corruption, China actually directly seeks direct procurement from the factory, thereby getting rid of Russia’s bloated bureaucratic system. Although China initially wanted to save China’s procurement funds, this actually made the Gongqingcheng factory more abundant. Then this generous amount of money promoted the improvement of the Su 27sm at the time of the Communist Youth League factory. (When I was studying, due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian army was unable to purchase large quantities of weapons and equipment, which led to the closure of a large number of factories in the Amur region. Many of my classmates and friends moved away during this period. It was not until China placed an order to buy the Su27SK that the factory began to relax. It was not until a series of subsequent orders that I had the opportunity to finish college.)
At that time, the background was the massive collapse of traditional Russian aviation industries such as MiGs in the early 21st century. Russia could only merge the aviation industry and form an aircraft consortium.
And we want to distinguish the Komsomolsk Su 27sm and the Irkusksu 30sm. The difference between these two improvements is nearly 10 years.
In fact, during the research and development stage of Kh38, due to the greater support of Sukhoi, more abundant funds from China and China’s strong demand for ship attacks, the Kh38 series experiments will be given priority to the Kh38 series of experiments at the Komsomolsk factory.
The Irkuziksu 30sm actually started around 2012. The Irkuzksu 30sm absorbed a large amount of technology from Su 30mki, Su 30mkk, and Su 30mkk2, and only upgraded to the Russian Su 30sm2 in 2020. Its ground attack stems more from the Communist Youth League’s technical route. This stems from Russia’s extremely poor economy, which has formed a technological form of export-for-own use. (Russia’s own military cannot afford new technologies. Most of the products produced by factories and technical institutes after developing new technologies are sold abroad first. The Russian military will only complain that the products of factories and technical institutes are expensive, without considering the lives and death of factories and research institutes.)
It can be seen that the original ones that can actually use the kh38 originated from the Communist Youth League technical routes Su 27sm, Su 30mKk, Su 30mKk2, and Su 27sm2. However, there is no clear indication of the earliest Su 27 experimental platform model, but according to technical inference, this missile should be of the same period as Su 27sm/Su 30mKk2. (Because among the customers at that time, only China had the need to attack ships.)
Then based on the technical feasibility of equipping KH38, the technical routes of Gsomolsk City Su 27sm, Su 27sm2, Su 30mKk2, Su 35, Su 35s and Irkusk Su 30sm, Su 30sm2 are only feasible for equipping.
