a turbofan engine. The missile is guided to its target at the final leg of the trajectory by commands fed from the active radar homing head and the radio altimeter. Target designation data can be introduced into the missile from the launch aircraft or ship or external sources. Flight mission data is inserted into the missile control system after input of target coordinates. An inertial system controls the missile in flight, stabilizes it at an assigned altitude and brings it to a target location area. At a certain target range, the homing head is switched on to search for, lock on and track the target. The inertial control system then turns the missile toward the target and changes its flight altitude to an extremely low one. At this altitude, the missile continues the process of homing by the data fed from the homing head and the inertial control system until a hit is obtained. The Kh-35 can be employed in fair and adverse weather conditions at sea states up to 5–6, by day and night, under enemy fire and electronic countermeasures. Its aerodynamic configuration is optimized for high subsonic-speed sea-skimming flight to ensure stealthy characteristics of the missile. The missile has low signatures thanks to its small dimensions, sea-skimming capability and a special guidance algorithm ensuring highly secure operational modes of the active radar seeker. Its ARGS-35E active radar seeker operates in both single and multiple missile launch modes, acquiring and locking on targets at a maximum range of up to 20 km. A new radar seeker, Gran-KE has been developed by SPE Radar MMS and will be replacing the existing ARGS-35E X band seeker. Operational history The Kh-35 missile entered service with Russian Navy only in 2003. In July 2003, the system created by the "Tactical Missiles Corporation" passed the state tests and began to come into service of ships of the Russian Navy. Today it is generally accepted that in the criterion of "cost-effectiveness", "Uran-E" is one of the best systems in the world. It has also been acquired by India. The Bal coastal missile system showed excellent results in state tests in the fall of 2004, and entered service in 2008. The tests of the upgraded Kh-35UE missile were completed as of June 2021. A Bal system has four self-propelled launcher vehicles each carrying eight missiles for a total of 32 missiles in a salvo, plus reloads