Aircraft Ships The 9K121 Vikhr (Russian: Вихрь, English: Whirlwind; NATO reporting name: AT-16 Scallion) is a Soviet laser-beam-riding anti-tank missile.

The missile is designed to engage vital ground targets, including armoured targets fitted out with built-in and add-on explosive reactive armor, at a range of up to 8 km when fired from a helicopter and 10 km when fired from a fixed-wing aircraft in daytime and up to 5 km at night, as well as air targets in conditions of air defense assets activity.

The Vikhr-1 missile is part of the Vikhr-M system, which also includes an automatic sight and a depressible launcher.

The multi-purpose warhead (two-stage HEAT and an additional fragmentation sleeve) allows the missile to be used against armoured, airborne and area targets alike.

Most Vikhr-carrying aircraft utilize the Skhval targeting system and are capable of launching Vikhr missiles against two to four targets during a 30-second period and starting at a range of 10 km, which increases its lethality to three to four times that of earlier systems.

It has a conical tip, with a small hole, which provides airspeed information necessary for its unusual guidance system.

This leads to instability in the missile's spin, making it 'wobble', similar to an improperly thrown (American) football.

[4] In August 2024, while the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk raged on, footage emerged of a Mi-28 night-time sortie during which the helicopter attacked tanks with its Vikhr missiles.