Russia has publicly revealed a new generation of relatively small, air-launched stand-off weapons featuring stealthy designs at the September 8-10, 2026, El Alamein International Airshow in Egypt. The new generation of weapons, developed by Russian aerospace and defence major PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter family, includes systems that have reportedly been used in the war against Ukraine. While these new missiles and munitions may not employ the cutting-edge technologies found in some Western weapons, such as the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) used by the US Air Force, they are considerably cheaper and could potentially be fired in large numbers to overwhelm air-defence systems.
The weapons, which fill the gap between the expensive and sophisticated cruise and ballistic missiles at one end of the spectrum and inexpensive armed drones at the other, include the S-71M Monokhrom, S-71K Kovyor, S8000 Banderol and a small unidentified munition.
While the S-71M Monokhrom is an air-launched autonomous/loitering munition that remains under development and operational testing, the other two, the S-71K Kovyor and S8000 Banderol, have reportedly been used by Russian forces against Ukrainian targets. The S-71K Kovyor is an air-launched cruise missile with an estimated range of around 350 kms, carries a 250 kilogram OFAB-250-270 warhead and provides Russia's Su-57 stealth fighter with a relatively inexpensive stand-off strike capability. The S8000 Banderol is a small cruise missile/loitering-munition hybrid with a much longer range of 500 km with a warhead weighing 114-150 kg.
