Ukrainian design bureau Yuzhnoye has revealed the next phase of a programme to develop a long-range, supersonic, air-to-surface missile (ASM) designated the Blyskavka ('Lightning').
The bureau announced the programme at Ukraine's Arms and Security 2019 defence exhibition, held in Kiev from 8-11 October, Jane's Defence Weekly reports.
The Blyskavka will be in the same performance class as the Russian-made Kh-31, one of the programme's designers told Jane's , but will be slightly faster than the Russian missile's Mach 3.5 top speed and have a longer range.
Like the Kh-31, the Blyskavka will be built with three different seekers: an active homing seeker for the anti-ship role; an electro-optical seeker; and a passive, anti-radiation seeker for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses missions.
