The Kalashnikov Group said it had supplied Vikhr-1 guided missiles to the Russian Defense Ministry by the 2021 arms procurement order ahead of schedule. The Vikhr-1 laser guided missile was developed by the Tula design bureau of instrument-making and passed into service in 1982. Vikhr-1 is an improved version of the 9K121 Vikhr (NATO reporting name: AT-16 Scallion).
The Vikhr-1 missile is designed to hit armoured vehicles, include those with reactive armour, and low-speed (up to 800 km/h) air targets. The missiles are carried by Ka-52 helicopter gunships and can be launched from an altitude of 4 thousand meters. Kalashnikov CEO Dmitry Tarasov said at Army-2020 forum that the company was working to increase the firing range of Vikhr-1 from 8 to 10 km.
In 2013 Russian Defense Ministry ordered over 6 000 of these missiles. This order was in part to prevent the manufacturer from going bankrupt. Delivery commenced in 2015 and was completed in 2016. The whole improved system, that uses the Vikhr-1 missiles is referred as Vikhr-M. Vikhr-K is a naval version, launched from the watercraft. It has been deployed on Russian ships.
