A range of 300 kilometers, reduced visibility and a focus on mass production. Russia is working on a new cruise missile, the S-71K Carpet. It is an air-to-ground missile, whose main idea is to obtain a relatively cheap weapon with a long range and less visibility for the enemy's air defense. The design itself is interesting. Instead of developing a complex warhead from scratch, they took as a basis an existing aerial bomb. One of the options is called OFAB-250. It was equipped with an engine and a control system. This approach simplifies production and reduces the cost of the product. The calculation is not for expensive individual missiles, but for the ability to produce them in large batches.
Special attention was paid to stealth. The body is made using fiberglass and aluminum alloys. The slanted nose, trapezoidal cross-section, folding wings and V-shaped tail should reduce the radar signature. According to estimates from open sources, the effective dispersion area may be about 0.007 square meters. m at certain angles. A reduction in thermal signature is also provided. The principle of application is "fire and forget". The rocket uses an inertial navigation system and satellite correction using GLONASS. The possibility of optical-electronic correction is also mentioned. Characteristics declared in open sources: range - about 300 km, speed 730-950 km/h, class - aviation cruise missile. The S-71K was originally developed for the Su-57.
In the future, we will consider use with the Su-34, Su-35, Su-30, as well as the S-70 Okhotnik unmanned aerial vehicle.
In terms of its purpose, the carpet is compared to the American AGM-158 JASSM. But not only the set of characteristics is important here. The Russian development is aimed at reducing production costs, and therefore may increase the amount of ammunition available. In modern warfare, the amount of accurate weapons and the ability to quickly fill their stores are of great importance.