One of the main assets of NATO facing Russia rely on the power of its air forces capable, theoretically, of taking control of the sky and thus to strike the enemy forces on the zones of engagement and in the depth . To provide this air power, the Western Air Force employs a large number of support aircrafts, from tankers such as the KC46 or the A330 MRTT, to early warning aircrafts such as the E7 Wedgetail. or the E3 Sentry, or even electronic intelligence aircrafts such as the EC-130H Compass Call.
For Russia, it is not a question of seeking to gain the advantage over NATO in this field, a fundamentally inaccessible objective, but to prevent the latter from achieving it. For this, the Russian forces are implementing long-range anti-aircraft defense systems, such as the S-400 and the future S-500, intended to push the support devices well beyond the line of engagement, and therefore to reduce its effectiveness. The RVV-BD, or R37M missile is part of this strategy. With a range reaching, according to sources, from 200 to 400 km, and a hypersonic speed of mach 6, the R37M is a heavy missile designed specifically to eliminate NATO support planes, and deprive the latter of a essential component of its air power.
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