The term "airborne sniper" (§ 6.7) took concrete form in Ukraine. From own or occupied airspace, MiG-31BM and Su-35S fighters fire the R-37M (AA-13 Axehead) at extreme range — one of the longest air-to-air kills ever was reported at ~190 km (Su-35S vs. MiG-29). The shooter stays well outside the reach of Ukrainian ground-based air defence.
| Feature | Value (indicative) |
|---|---|
| Missile | R-37M — dual-pulse, ≈ Mach 6, 60 kg warhead |
| Max range | up to ~400 km (MiG-31BM) / ~350 km (Su-35S) |
| Cueing | A-50/A-50U AWACS for mid-course updates; the Su-35S needs external support at maximum range |
The R-37M threat forces Ukrainian pilots to fly very low to stay below radar detection. Terrain masking raises survival but costs fuel, shrinks sensor range and limits tactical flexibility. Thus the VKS achieves through one weapon what its manned fighter fleet cannot: making enemy airspace unusable without having to operate there — an extension of the A2/AD philosophy (§ 6.2) into the air.
It is no wonder weapon. The R-37M leans on GCI/AWACS support (vulnerable since the A-50 losses), and Ukrainian pilots halve the effective range with rear-hemisphere/notch tactics: turning away from the missile or flying perpendicular lowers the closing speed and hit probability sharply. At extreme range the Pk is uncertain. The weapon dominates the adversary's behaviour more than it consistently downs aircraft.
Summarised from A. Turunen (Northern Defence Affairs, Novel Approaches to Russian Air-to-Air Combat in Ukraine, 2026) and open-source reporting. Didactic summary; figures indicative.