


AT - 6 SPIRAL Anti-Tank Guided Missile

The SPIRAL is much larger than previous Soviet ATGMs. The AT-6/SPIRAL is a tube-launched, SACLOS antitank guided missile mounted on the Mi-24/HIND E helicopter as a replacement for the heliborne AT-2/SWATTER variant found on previous HIND models. There are attachment points for two SPIRAL launch tubes on each wing tip of the HIND E. The 9M1114 Kokon [Cocoon] missile of the Shturm [Assault]-V (AT-6 Spiral system was adapted for the Mi-24V helicopter, later also used on Mi-28 and Ka-29 helicopters. The weight of the Kokon missile is 31.8 kg, which includes a warhead weighing 6 kg, its length is 1840 mm and its caliber is 130 mm. The missile is fired from a horn launcher.

Introduced in 1978 as a long-range stand-off weapon for the Hind attack helicopter, the SPIRAL is often incorrectly said to be a laser-guided weapon similar to the American Hellfire. The SPIRAL has often been erroneously assessed as a laser-guided weapon, and credited with an unrealistic range of 7,000 to 10,000 meters.

Unlike the AT-4/SPIGOT and AT-5/SPANDREL, this new missile is not wire-guided. The SACLOS system with IR missile tracking and radio guidance (similar to the AT-2c uprated SWATTER) operates the same as the SPIGOT and SPANDREL, except for the fact that the SPIRAL is not wire-guided. The SPIRAL uses radio instead of wire to transmit commands from the operator to the missile. Probability of first-round hit should be a least the same as for the AT-2c (90 percent).

The missile's speed (estimated at 450 meters per second) pushes the missile out to 5000 meters, during which time the helicopter must maintain the target in its sight. During the flight time of the SPIRAL to the target (estimated at approx. 11 seconds at maximum range), the target has an opportunity to take evasive action, but the helicopter launch platform has limited ability to take evasive action itself since the SPIRAL operator must keep the target in his sight. The warhead is believed to contain two tandem HEAT charges that will punch through 600-700 mm of rolled homogenous steel armor.

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Page last modified: 04-05-2018 16:43:56 ZULU