S-8 (rocket)

The S-8 is an 80 mm unguided air-launched rocket developed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1970s for use by fighter-bombers and helicopters. It entered service in 1984 and remains in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces and export customers. It is made in many subtypes with different warheads, including HEAT anti-armor, high-explosive fragmentation, smoke and incendiary, plus the S-8BM runway-destroying munition and the S-8DM fuel-air explosive variant. Each rocket is between 1.5 and 1.7 meters long and weighs 11.3 to 15.2 kg depending on warhead and fuse, with a range of 2 to 4 kilometers. Rockets are usually carried in B-series pods holding seven or twenty. In 2018 the Russian Aerospace Forces completed state tests of the successor S-8OFP Broneboishchik, which is also unguided but has more range, a heavier warhead and a digital fuse, and which entered serial production in May 2023.