Ukraine Is Modernizing Soviet R-60 Air-to-Air Missiles

Ukraine is modernizing its R-60 short-range air-to-air missiles and adapting them for launch from ground launchers.

Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Armaments Manufacturers Council, told about this in a new video project by Militarnyi – “Zbroya”.

According to him, although Ukraine has not yet launched the production of its own air defense systems from scratch, it is modernizing old Soviet missiles.

“Here I would say this: if we are talking directly about the missile itself, which can shoot down targets, then we have not yet made such progress. And most likely, it is a little slower, because we have moved on to what we can do. And what we know how to do is drones. We create anti-drone drones or interceptors, fighter drones… As for missiles, the biggest issue is with homing heads. We do not produce such systems, they have to be bought. The production of air defense systems is more in the international realm: such systems are strictly regulated,” he explained.

When modernizing the R-60MK and other missile modifications, analog components are replaced with digital ones, which can significantly increase the sensitivity of old infrared homing heads. It is stated that “some companies have achieved almost a 10-fold improvement in sensor sensitivity.”

In addition, the missile is being adapted to be launched from ground launchers as an air defense system. At the same time, Ihor Fedirko emphasizes that this is only a temporary solution that allows for the beneficial use of otherwise unusable old missiles.

“They are available in warehouses, and there is also something else in post-Soviet countries. But, relatively speaking, this is a dead-end development path. This is solely because we do not have the ability and capacity to create a completely new missile, and we are restoring something old very cheaply and using it,” he emphasized.

This is not the first Ukrainian project to adapt Soviet air-to-air missiles for ground launchers.

In May 2024, the first footage of a Ukrainian maritime drone with R-73 anti-aircraft missiles attacking Russian aircraft in the Black Sea was released.

In early January, it became known that such a drone had shot down two Russian helicopters on December 31, 2024, over the Black Sea.

Also, on the basis of these missiles, British Gravehawk and Ukrainian Dragon H73 anti-aircraft systems were created for Ukraine, which entered service with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade.

At the same time, the R-73 missiles are newer than the R-60 missiles – they have been produced since 1982, while the R-60 has been produced since 1974. They are also 2.5 times heavier and have a 2-4 times longer maximum range (20-40 kilometers versus 10 when launched from an airplane) and twice the weight of the warhead.