kh 55 and kh 101 cruise missiles

• Missiles of the World

Kh-55 (AS-15)

The Kh-55 (NATO: AS-15 “Kent) is an air-launched cruise missile developed by the Soviet Union starting in 1971. Originally designed as a strategic system capable of delivering a nuclear warhead 2,500 km, the missile has given rise to several variants. These include the Kh-55SM, an extended range version; the Kh-555, a conventional version; and the Kh-65SE, a conventional version designed for export.

Kh-55 (AS-15 “Kent”) at a Glance

Kh-55 Development

The Kh-55SM is an extended range version. To achieve the extra range, conformal fuel tanks are mounted on both sides of the fuselage. It also has a more powerful engine, producing 450 kg of thrust. See below for the main differences.

• Slightly larger body diameter due to the fuel tanks, 0.77 m.
• Increased launch weight, 1,500 kg.
• Increased range, 3,000 km.

The Kh-555 is a conventional variant of the Kh-55. The nuclear warhead has been replaced by a 400 kg unitary HE, penetration HE, or submunitions warhead. Other notable changes include the following:

• Larger conformal fuel tanks (compared to the Kh-55SM).
• Reduced radar cross-section.
• Improved accuracy.
• Increased range, 3,500 km.

Kh-65SE and Kh-SD

Similarities with iran’s soumar.

In 2000, reports suggest that Ukraine exported six Kh-55SM missiles to China, and in 2001, exported another six to Iran. Two Russian nationals, with the help of at least one Ukrainian official, created a series of front companies to hide and facilitate the transaction. 6 This is considered one the worst cases of missile proliferation in modern times given the advanced capabilities of the Kh-55 series.

On March 8, 2015, Iran unveiled the Soumar ground-launched cruise missile . The origin of the Soumar appears to be from the nuclear capable Russian Kh-55. In 2005, Ukraine acknowledged that 12 Kh-55’s (without nuclear warheads) were illegally sold to Iran in 2001 through a black market counterfeit operation.

• “Kh-55 (AS-15 ‘Kent’/Kh-555/RKV-500/Kh-65)” in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 184-86.
• Carlo Kopp, “Soviet/Russian Cruise Missiles” Air Power Australia. April 2012, http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Rus-Cruise-Missiles.html#mozTocId152650.

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Reports Surface Of New Version Of Russian Kh-101 Cruise Missile With Cluster Warhead

Pictures and media reports from Ukraine claim the Kh-101 is now carrying a cluster warhead, in its dual-warhead variant.

Russia has reportedly introduced another modification to the Kh-101 ALCM (X-101 Air-Launched Cruise Missile), after variants releasing decoys to divert SAM (Surface-to-Air Missiles) and dual/tandem warheads.

Pictures and media reports claim the Kh-101 is now carrying a cluster warhead, in its dual-warhead variant. Russia fired a volley of these missiles on the night of Jun. 7, 2024 at Ukrainian targets.

Defense Express Ukraine , which said the missile may also be the Kh-555, said Russia fired “five” of these missiles from its Tu-95 missiles, according to data from its AD units. All five were “shot down,” along with “48 units” of its 53 Shahed attack drones (Geran/Geranium-2) kamikaze UAVs.

The submunition-releasing cluster warhead was discovered while it was heading towards “critical infrastructure.” Russian Milbloggers have said this version will come in handy in attacking Ukrainian air bases and admitted that they lacked this capability earlier in the war.

The image carried by the Ukrainian reports and posts on X show what appears to be a fold-out wing section and darker spherical shaped charge that is believed to be the cluster munition – or at least a part of it. The Kh-101 is fired from Russia’s Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers deep into Ukraine’s rear battlefield targets like air bases, power generation infrastructure in its cities as far as the west.

Cluster Warheads Eliminate Need for Accuracy

These long-range standoff fires and drone attacks are also employed by releasing Iskander and Iskander-M tactical in coordination to confuse and bait Ukrainian air defenses. The missile and drone releases take place from nearly across the frontline in unpredictable patterns of timing and routes.

Like the Ukrainian ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) strike on the Belbek air base in Crimea on May 15 and the hit on an S-400 battery at Mospyne in Donetsk on May 22-23 where it used M39 or the M39A1 ATACMS variants to destroy soft-bodied targets like aircraft or AD (Air Defense) systems.

While the M39 carries 950 submunitions, the M39A1 holds 300 bomblets.These eliminate the need to have precise hits. At Belbek for instance, Russia was claimed to have lost one MiG-31, three Su-27s and two S-300 or S-400 systems.

Mainstay Russian Air-Launched Cruise Missile

Kh-101 is a strategic cruise missile that is designed with LO (Low Observable features). It uses a combined inertial guidance system with an electro-optical system kicking in at the terminal stage. Observers have noted this operates on the DSMAC (Digital Scene-Mapping Area Correlator) principle like in the British-French Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG . Its range estimates vary from 2,500 to 5,000-km and the missile can change directions mid-flight.

The Tu-95 can carry eight such missiles in pairs of two on four external hardpoints while the Tu-160 carries 12 of them in an internal compartment on a rotating launcher. The missile can be pre-programmed with the target coordinates prior to launch. Assuming it is the Kh-101 missile and the claim about the cluster warhead is true, it is likely the Russians might have to compromise on range to accommodate it.

“However, the launch distance and the territory of Ukraine, the range reduction is not critical,” said Militarnyi . Ukrainian Telegram channel ‘war_home’ inferred that the Kh-101 now possibly has four variants. One with a single lens optics; another with a three-lens optical seeker, an on-board EW station and “‘dipole’ firing system”; and the third and fourth ones with a “double cartridge warhead.”

Possibly, the dual (tandem) warhead has two other sub-variants where after the first warhead, the other is possibly a penetrating warhead or a cluster warhead. This is however not yet clear.

More photos of this Russian Kh-101 missile with two warheads, courtesy of Defense Express. https://t.co/O7OAOhvhdQ https://t.co/aSGX4N1VWL pic.twitter.com/jm4HXJ77Dn — John Hardie (@JohnH105) May 9, 2024

Russian Milbloggers Admit Cluster Warheads Were Needed

Interestingly, Russian Telegram channel ‘Milinfolive’ , “(noted) that the absence of cluster warheads in Russian long-range cruise missiles.” These include the “Kh-101 or Caliber (Kalibr)” that “had an extremely negative impact on the effectiveness of missile attacks on enemy air bases even in the first weeks of hostilities.”

This was when “Ukrainian aviation was in the most vulnerable position and the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ air defense system could not shoot down even some of the missiles.” Thus, in order to hit targets at airfields deep in Ukrainian territory, Russia had to launch “a missile at each individual aircraft.”

Such a volume of strikes was “simply unattainable,” leading to any particular Ukrainian air base being targeted “with only a few missiles…which did not lead to tangible results.” ‘Military Informant’ later validated The Aviationist’s previous analysis on Ukrainian ATACMS strikes.

“The effectiveness of missiles with cluster warheads when striking airfields and air defense positions can be assessed by the arrivals of American MGM-140 ATACMS.” The appearance of “long-range cruise missiles with cluster warheads” with “Russian strategic aviation…can significantly expand the list of effectively hit targets, enemy aircraft…and air defense batteries deep in Ukrainian territory.

• Air Base Shelters
• Air-launched cruise missile
• Troubled Areas
• War in Ukraine

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Kh-101 cruise missile – Russian weapon used in attacks on Ukraine [BRIEF]

By Defence Industry Europe

The Kh-101 cruise missile is one of the latest Russian strategic weapons systems. Its range of approximately 2500 km makes it one of the few weapons in Russia's arsenal capable of striking the entire territory of Ukraine. This weapon became the primary tool in attacks on Ukraine conducted on December 29 and January 2.

Work on the next generation of air-launched cruise missiles for new bomber carriers began in the USSR as part of the R-2000 program initiated in 1991, meaning rockets for the year 2000. One requirement was to reduce the effective radar cross-section compared to the Soviet-era Kh-55/Kh-555 missile family.

The first to be developed was a long-range missile, successor to the Kh-55, carrying a nuclear warhead. The new rocket, designated Kh-102 (product 504B), also had a nuclear warhead. Its tests were conducted from 2006-2008, followed by limited serial production.

In 2012, a variant of the missile with a conventional warhead, designated Kh-101 (product 504B), was introduced into the arsenal. Official Russian documents indicate that the missiles were officially adopted in 2013.

The Kh-101/Kh-102 missile is designed as a winged rocket with a flattened fuselage cross-section to reduce effective radar cross-section. It consists of three parts: a nose with guidance systems, a central section with fuel and a warhead, and a tail with an engine and control system. Upon launch, wings extend from the body, and a turbojet march engine, product 84, is lowered.

The guidance system includes an inertial navigation system SN-504 with terrain-following using a radio altimeter with a Doppler radar – drift meter, a satellite navigation receiver SN-99, and an optoelectronic correlational terrain-tracking system comparing it with memory-stored data, Otblesk-U. According to official data, the deviation from the target point at maximum range should not exceed 10 meters.

The missile’s launch weight is 2400 kg. In the case of Kh-101, the conventional warhead weighing 400 kg has a penetrating charge. The Kh-102 version carries an adjustable-yield thermonuclear charge. There is also a version designated product 504AP, equipped with the SP-504 electronic jamming station.

During the Russian-Ukrainian war, it was found that some Kh-101 missiles are equipped with flares released during flight, designed to confuse anti-aircraft missiles by misleading heat-seeking heads.

Kh-101 and Kh-102 missiles are carried by Tu-95MS aircraft, which carry eight of them on four under-wing pylons AKU-5M, and Tu-160 bombers, which can carry twelve inside the bomb bay on two drum locks 9A-829K3.

Use of Kh-101 Missiles Against Ukraine

According to Ukrainian intelligence, on the eve of the full-scale aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces had 444 Kh-101 missiles, as well as older and no longer produced Kh-555 and Kh-55SM. By the end of 2022, Russian industry was to produce another 290 Kh-101s. Most of the existing stockpile was fired at Ukraine, as at the beginning of 2023, according to publicly available data from Ukrainian intelligence, there were only about 118 Kh-101s left in the Russian arsenal. The Ukrainian side estimates the level of Kh-101 missile production in 2023 at 30-40 units per month.

By the end of December 2023, the Russians, having been sparing with these missiles in the second half of the year, had accumulated just over 300.

According to a summary from the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Air Force, since the beginning of the war, Russian Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers have fired 1430 Kh-101 and Kh-555/55 cruise missiles, of which the Armed Force of Ukraine destroyed 1104.

Currently, there are about 150 Kh-101s in the Russian arsenal, which means that this stockpile would enable the execution of one more two-phase attack spread over two days. Another attack involving nearly 100 missiles will only be possible in another two months.

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• AS-15 Kent (Kh-55 Granat)

The Kh-55 Granat and its multiple variants closely resembles the designs of early versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile used by the United States. The Russian air launched subsonic cruise missile is carried by long range bombers and possesses the ability to carry a 250 kt nuclear warhead as well as conventional capabilities. The air-launched cruise missile has a max range of 3500 km and uses inertial navigation as well as Terrain Contour Matching. It is capable of traveling at Mach .77 at a cruise altitude of 40 to 110 meters. Despite coming into service in 1984 as a counter to the US BGM-109 Tomahawk, the Kh-55 is still used to this day. Most recently, one of its variants, the Kh-555, was used to strike ground targets in Syria in 2015 using Tu-22M strategic bombers.

Strategic Implications

The recent use of the Kh-555 in Syria against rebel ground targets shows that this cruise missile, with its long range nuclear capabilities, is still a viable part of the Russian nuclear triad. However, more pressingly, its long range and conventional capabilities gives Russia the ability to power project outside of its own region. Long range weapons such as the Kh-555 have allowed Moscow to act as a global power despite much of Russia’s military only possessing short term and regional capabilities. The Kh-55 can and has directly affected the interests of the United States around the world. Specifically, in Syria the Kh-55 and its variants have been used to advance Russian interests, which are not always aligned with the interests of the United States and its allies working in the region.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/as-15-specs.htm

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Rus-Cruise-Missiles.html#mozTocId152650

https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/

http://militaryedge.org/armaments/kh-55-as-15-kentsoumar/

https://theaviationist.com/2015/11/17/russian-tu-22s-joined-the-syria-air-war/

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Russian Forces use Kh-101 and Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles in strikes against Ukraine

• 3 May, 2023 - 16:15

According to information published by the British Ministry of Defense on May 3, 2023, between April 28 and May 2, 2023, Russian forces conducted several strikes against Ukraine using Kh-101 and Kh-555 ACLMs (Air Launched Cruise Missiles). Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Citing information from the British Ministry of Defense, these were the first such strikes for 50 days, with the last prior strikes occurring on 09 March 2023.

The latest strikes were conducted by Russian Air Force long-range strategic bombers including Tu-95 and T-160 aircraft, likely using Kh-101 and Kh-555 ALCMs (Air Launched Cruise Missiles).

Both strikes used smaller numbers of missiles than seen in previous attacks, which is likely due to Russian attempts to rebuild its ALCMs stockpiles. The observed types of facilities damaged by the Russian strikes indicate a possible shift away from targeting Ukraine's electrical power network. Both recent strikes were likely focused on Ukraine's military, industrial, and logistical infrastructure.

On Monday, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that it had taken out three Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and struck almost seven groups of enemy personnel within a 24-hour period. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provided an update on the conflict, stating that their soldiers had intercepted as many as 19 missile attacks aimed at civilian infrastructure.

Throughout May 2, 2023, Russian forces initiated 19 missile strikes, with Ukraine successfully fending off 15 Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles and a minimum of 17 airstrikes. The Ukrainian military carried out up to 25 counterattacks on Russian positions using multiple launch rocket systems.

In the previous week, Ukraine's Air Force had defended against nearly 30 missile assaults by Russian forces. In response, the Ukrainian military executed six strikes targeting Russian personnel and military equipment concentrations.

In the context of the war in Ukraine, cruise missiles have been employed for various reasons. One of the primary factors is their accuracy, as these missiles can strike specific targets with great precision, minimizing collateral damage and maximizing the effectiveness of the attack.

Another significant advantage is their long-range capabilities, which enable them to be launched from a safe distance away from the target. This allows attacking forces to strike without putting their personnel or assets in immediate danger. Furthermore, cruise missiles are designed to fly low and follow terrain features to avoid radar detection, making them difficult to intercept and increasing the chances of a successful attack.

Cruise missiles also offer payload versatility, as they can carry different types of payloads, such as conventional explosives, cluster munitions, or even nuclear warheads. This flexibility enables the attacking force to choose the most appropriate weapon for a specific target. Lastly, the standoff capability provided by cruise missiles allows attacking forces to engage targets from a distance without having to enter enemy airspace. This reduces the risk to pilots and aircraft while still achieving the desired effect on the target.

Overall, in the context of the war in Ukraine, cruise missiles have proven to be a valuable tool for the Russian forces to strike Ukrainian critical infrastructure or military targets accurately and with limited risk to their own forces.

The Kh-555 and Kh-101 are Russian long-range cruise missiles with distinct features and capabilities.

The Kh-555 is an air-launched, subsonic cruise missile derived from the Kh-55, initially developed as a nuclear-tipped missile. With a range of approximately 2,500-3,000 km, the Kh-555 is designed to be launched from strategic bombers like the Tu-95 and Tu-160. It utilizes a combination of inertial navigation systems and terrain contour matching to accurately navigate to its target. The Kh-555 has been modified to carry conventional warheads, making it suitable for non-nuclear strategic operations.

The Kh-101 is a more modern, air-launched, stealth cruise missile with a range of approximately 4,500-5,500 km. It is designed to be compatible with the Tu-95, Tu-160, and the Tu-22M3 strategic bombers. The Kh-101 is characterized by its low observable design, which helps it evade enemy radar systems. It employs advanced guidance systems, including satellite navigation, inertial navigation, and terrain contour matching for improved accuracy. The Kh-101 carries a conventional warhead and is primarily used for precision strikes against high-value targets.

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