You'd think the Russians would've also given the missile the ability to remember it's targets location/flight path and search for it with it's seeker in the event the RPC lost track of the target. Any deviation by the target would probably result in a miss, but it's better than nothing.. And yes, a backup command guidance mode would've been extremely useful.
It is included. After loosing track, the missile will fly ahead, and will try to look for the signal received from the target, as long, as its battery runs out. (You can try it against a practice target, by switching the RPC off-on for few sec. The KRO signal will dissapear, and the missile should try to get the target at least.)
Command guidance would be inaccurate on these ranges, and would make this system more complex and expensive, and the missile even bigger.
(Just remember the S50 Dal, they were thinking about similar system)
Mid course update would make the missile more susceptible against jamming.
I actually just finished two tests.
Test 1 was at Asuluk, results are as follows: Missile launched and radar put on dummy load. I observed the KRO spike, which disappeared when the radar was switched back on, and the target reacquired. The target was successfully intercepted.
Test 2 was in Hungary: Two missiles launched and radar put on dummy load. Missiles self destructed at 60 km distance. This test was to see if I could fire on a long range target and then cease transmission to avoid HARMs. I planned to reacquire the target when the first missile was 20 km away from the target. I suppose this method could work if the target was reacquired every 40-50 km.
