Due to recent findings regarding the true nature of the French AASM Hammers IR seeker function, I’ve been looking into the Kh-38MT and its seeker to determine if the missile that has been the scourge of ground battles, and the least balanced air to ground missile ever added to War Thunder was in fact capable of tracking moving ground targets. This hunt for info on the seekers functionality however lead me to begin believing that that Kh-38MT does not actually exist.
First of all, the evidence for the Kh-38MT existing:
- KTRV (the manufacturer) and Rosoboronexport (the export company) have had the Kh-38MTE on their brochures in the past.
- According to a reply to this thread, this brochure from the Zhuhai 2024 airshow exists depicting Kh-38MTE actually mounted on a jet, and designations exist for the missile in various stages of useability.
Claimed Zhuhai 2024 airshow:
Now, the evidence for the missile never having left the conceptual/mockup stage:
- The Kh-38MT has NEVER been photographed or videotaped. There is only a single mockup that has been seen twice afaik.
Mockup of Kh-38MT photographed at MAKS 2009:
- Mockups of the Kh-38MT have never been seen in the “new” Kh-38M layout seen at MAKS 2017. Notice the new clipped wings for internal storage in the T-50/Su-57, replacing the old folding wings seen on the older mockups of the Kh-38M’s.
(New information disputes this claim. The news article claims it to be a SALH seeker and calls it an MLE, the apparent manufacturer of the mockup calls it an MTE but still claims the seeker to be SALH, making it unclear what the correct designation should be)
Авиационная модульная управляемая ракета Х-38МТЭ - Моделлмикс модели в масштабе
MAKS 2017 Kh-38MLE:
https://www.rusaviainsider.com/maks-tactical-missiles-corporation-shows-kh-38-changes/
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The Kh-38MT has never been said to have been used in combat despite the Kh-38ML being used extensively (I cannot post a link to this due to WT forum rules regarding not posting active war footage/info, but it is very easy to find).
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Afaik, even the mockup for the Kh-38MT has been absent from defense expos for years, if not over a decade (last picture I have a solid date on is from 2009)
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The in-game model for the Kh-38MT is not even based on any mockups of the Kh-38MT, it uses the model of the MAKS 2017 Kh-38MLE (SALH seeker)
(This appears to be incorrect, the MAKS 2017 moclup appears to have been an MTE according to new information)
In-game Kh-38MT model vs irl MAKS 2017 Kh-38MLE mockup:
Model company that appears to have p4oduced the Kh-38ME model for MAKS 2017 claims it to be an MTE:
Авиационная модульная управляемая ракета Х-38МТЭ - Моделлмикс модели в масштабе
- Even the latest brochure for the Kh-38MT DOES NOT HAVE a picture of a real Kh-38MT, instead using 2 (frankly poor) computer generated images of the theoretical missile. Of note; gaijins model for the Kh-38MT does not even use the latest “model” used by the manufacturer for its brochure.
KTRV Kh-38MTE brochure from MAKS 2021:
- Rosoboronexport’s webpage of products does not list the Kh-38MTE as a product, ONLY the Kh-38MLE. All mentions of the Kh-38MTE or of the existence of an IR homing head as a guidance option have been removed from the website.
Rosoboronexport website:
Last archived rosoboronexport webpage mentionning the Kh-38MTE and the IR homing head option:
Short-range guided modular missiles Kh-38MLE | Catalog Rosoboronexport
Current Rosoboronexport catalogue for guided weapons:
https://roe.ru/production/aviatsionnaya-tekhnika-i-vooruzhenie-vozdushno-kosmicheskikh-sil/aviatsionnye-sredstva-porazheniya/upravlyaemye-sredstva-porazheniya/?PAGEN_2=3
Current Rosoboronexport webpage for the Kh-38MLE:
https://roe.ru/production/aviatsionnaya-tekhnika-i-vooruzhenie-vozdushno-kosmicheskikh-sil/aviatsionnye-sredstva-porazheniya/upravlyaemye-sredstva-porazheniya/aviatsionnye-upravlyaemye-rakety-obshchego-naznacheniya-klassa-vozdukh-poverkhnost/kh-38mle/?theme=theme-lightblue
- The English Rosoboronexport catalogue entry for the Kh-38MLE which actually mentions the Kh-38MTE and the IR guidance section option has remained unchanged since it was first archived in 2017, while the Russian version of the catalogue was updated to remove all mentions of the radar (MAE), satellite only (MKE, which was further developped into the Kh-36 Grom-1E/2E ), and IR (MTE) guidance sections sometime between December 2020 and March 2021, suggesting the English webpage to be very outdated.
Archival analysis of ROE's Kh-38 catalogue entry:
Archived Russian version of ROE Kh-38MLE catalogue entry:
Last archived version of the Russian webpage mentioning all 4 guidance options (MAE, MKE, MLE, MTE) in December 2020:
Авиационная модульная управляемая ракета малой дальности Х-38МЛЭ | Каталог Рособоронэкспорт
First archived version of the Russian webpage with only the SALH guidance option (MLE) March 2021:
Авиационная модульная управляемая ракета малой дальности Х-38МЛЭ | Каталог Рособоронэкспорт
Archived English version of ROE Kh-38MLE catalogue entry:
Closest English archived version of the website to the last archived version of the Russian webpage mentioning all 4 guidance options (MAE, MKE, MLE, MTE) Oct 7th 2020:
Short-range guided modular missiles Kh-38MLE | Catalog Rosoboronexport
Closest English archived version of the website to the first archived version of the Russian webpage with only the SALH guidance option (MLE) October 1st 2021:
Short-range guided modular missiles Kh-38MLE | Catalog Rosoboronexport
As can be seen, the English webpage became outdated sometime between December 2020 and March 2021. The modern English version of the website with the blue look appears to just have copy pasted the info over from the outdated English webpage instead of adapting the webpage with the updated information.
Modern versions of the website for comparison to the archived versions:
In fact, through the entirety of the archived history of the English webpage, it has NEVER updated the information. The information was the same between June 2017 and January 2025.
Historical comparison of ROE's English Kh-38MLE webpage:
Short-range guided modular missiles Kh-38MLE | Catalog Rosoboronexport
Short-range guided modular missiles Kh-38MLE | Catalog Rosoboronexport
All in all, I have scoured the internet for days trying to find ANY proof that the Kh-38MT is a real missile, and anything that discusses it can inevitably be traced back to sourcing either a past KTRV or Rosoboronexport brochure stating that the Kh-38MT is an option for the Kh-38M family of missiles. There has been no physical proof provided (that I can find atleast) beyond the outdated brochure that the missile actually exists and is functional.
From what I can gather, the Kh-38MT was likely a proposal for a weapon that has not yet been built and requires further funding. I dont think it has even gotten beyond the drawing board and made it to the testing stage, since if it had, they would presumably present a modernized mockup of the missile or the manufacturer would at the very least have an actual picture of the thing instead of needing to use artist renditions of the supposed missile for brochures. Its even possible that all alternate homing heads for the Kh-38M family of missiles have been cancelled, and the class renamed to the Kh-38ML, since the Rosoboronexport website has deleted all info regarding alternate seekers for the missile (they used to offer the MTE for IR, MKE for satellite, and MAE for active radar homing options om the webpage, all 3 have been removed and all mentions of those guidance options purged).
In my opinion, the Kh-38MT is almost definitely a paper weapon much like the Flakpanzer 341 Coelian that was removed from the game for not being a real vehicle. Though the missile body and warhead my exist, the seeker never has, and as such, the option to use it in-game should be removed. Not only would this be the most realistic implementation of the missile with current available information, it would also be of massive help for game balance, and would follow the precedence of the removal of weapons that were never functionally built.
Edit: The claimed Zhuhai 2024 brochure does appear to provide some strong evidence the Kh-38MT does exist in some operational capacity, potentially as a mockup. There are some dubious things about the brochure though, so I’m currently on the fence. I do still believe the Kh-38MT to be horrible for the game though, but that’s unfortunately not a consideration gaijins ever used for removal of a weapon system.
Considering this, here is a poll, just to gauge what the community thinks of these findings and what should be done about it:
- Remove it from the game!
- Keep it in the game!
If someone has additional proof the Kh-38MT does or has in fact existed operationally, please do provide the proof of it in the comments!
