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23-542: The RK-55 is very similar to the air-launched Kh-55 (AS-15 'Kent') but the Kh-55 has a drop-down turbofan engine and was designed by MKB Raduga . Both have formed the basis of post-Cold-War missiles, in particular the 3M-54 Kalibr which has a supersonic approach phase. In the late 1960s, the "Ekho" study conducted by the GosNIIAS institute concluded that it would be more effective to deploy many small, subsonic cruise missiles than

46-482: A complete production facility had been transferred to Shanghai, for the development of a nuclear-armed cruise missile. Originally it was thought that this was based on the 300 km-range Raduga Kh-15 (AS-16 "Kickback"), but it now appears that it was the Kh-55 that was transferred to China. The original Kh-55 was powered by a drop-down, Ukrainian-made 400 kgf Motor Sich JSC R95-300 turbofan engine, with pop-out wings for cruising efficiency. The Kh-65SE version had

69-678: A deal said to be worth US$ 49.5 million, and an additional six Kh-55s were exported to China. In March 2015, Iran subsequently revealed the existence of the Soumar cruise missile. In the course of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War on 17 November 2015, Russian Defence Ministry reported that Tupolev Tu-95MS and Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers launched a total of 34 air-launched cruise missiles against 14 ISIL targets in Syria. While

92-627: A first test flight in 1976. The appearance of the US Air Force's AGM-86 ALCM in that year gave further impetus to the programme, with the Soviet Air Force issuing a formal requirement for a new air-launched cruise missile in December 1976. The longer-range Kh-55SM was developed a few years after the original went into service. After the end of the Cold War and anti-proliferation treaties restricting

115-482: A fixed external turbojet engine, while the Kh-SD had its engine inside the body of the missile. Production versions in 2013 were equipped with the increased-power 450 kgf Russian-made NPO Saturn TRDD-50A engine. The missile can be launched from both high and low altitudes, and flies at subsonic speeds at low levels (under 110 m/300 ft altitude). After launch, the missile's folded wings, tail surfaces and engine deploy. It

138-474: Is guided through a combination of an inertial guidance system plus a terrain contour-matching guidance system which uses radar and images stored in the memory of an onboard computer to find its target. This allows the missile to guide itself to the target with a high degree of accuracy. In the nuclear role, Kh-55 carries a 200 kilotonnes of TNT (840 TJ) warhead designated TK66, with a warhead weight of 130 kilograms (290 lb). The mass-size simulator for

161-512: Is launched exclusively from bomber aircraft and has spawned a number of conventionally armed variants mainly for tactical use, such as the Kh-65SE and Kh-SD , but only the Kh-555 appears to have been put into service. The Kh-55 was not the basis of the submarine and ground-launched S-10 Granat or RK-55 Relief (SS-N-21   "Sampson" and SSC-X-4   "Slingshot") designed by NPO Novator . The RK-55

184-496: Is very similar to the air-launched Kh-55 (AS-15 "Kent") but the Kh-55 has a drop-down turbofan engine and was designed by MKB Raduga. In the late 1960s, the "Ekho" study conducted by the GosNIIAS institute concluded that it would be more effective to deploy many small, subsonic cruise missiles than the much more expensive supersonic missiles then in favour. Work started at the Raduga bureau on an air-launched cruise missile in 1971, with

207-571: The U.S. Air Force 's AGM-69 SRAM , versions with conventional warheads have been developed. As of early 2019, it was uncertain whether the Kh-15 was in service, with rumors that it had been retired or placed in storage. In 1967, MKB Raduga started developing the Kh-2000 as a replacement for the Kh-22 ( NATO reporting name AS-4 Kitchen) heavy anti-shipping missile. Development of the Kh-15 started some time in

230-631: The 25 Tu-95MSs of the 182nd Heavy Bomber Regiment at Uzin-Shepelovka . It was reported that Ukraine demanded US$ 3 billion for the return of the planes and their missiles to Russia. In October 1999, a compromise was reached that saw Russia pay US$ 285 million for eight Tu-160 and three Tu-95MS bombers and 575 Kh-55 cruise missiles, while the rest were meant to be destroyed under U.S.-led Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction programme. However, in March 2005 Ukraine's prosecutor-general Sviatoslav Piskun said that in 2001, twelve Kh-55s had been exported to Iran in

253-502: The Kh-55, but it is now known that the Kh-55 is different from the other two as its motor drops down below the missile during flight. Kh-15 The Raduga Kh-15 or RKV-15 ( Russian : Х -15 ; NATO : AS-16 " Kickback "; GRAU :) is a Russian hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-ground missile carried by the Tupolev Tu-22M and other bombers . Originally developed as a standoff nuclear air-to-ground missile similar to

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276-685: The Kh-55SM is carried by the Tupolev Tu-160 "White Swan" (NATO "Blackjack"). Sixteen Kh-55s can be carried by the Tu-95MS16 variant, ten on underwing hardpoints and six on an MKU-5-6 rotary launcher. The missile was also tested on the Tu-22M (NATO "Backfire") bombers. The end of the Cold War left Ukraine with 1,612 Kh-55s, part of the armament of the 19 Tu-160s of the 184th Heavy Bomber Regiment at Pryluky and

299-472: The RK-55 have probably been developed, to justify the continuing service of the submarines that carry them. Kh-55 The Kh-55 ( Russian : Х -55 , also known as RKV-500 ; NATO reporting name : AS-15 "Kent" ) is a Soviet /Russian subsonic air-launched cruise missile , designed by MKB Raduga in the 1970s. It has a range of up to 2,500 km (1,350 nmi) and can carry nuclear warheads. Kh-55

322-679: The Tu-95MS used the Kh-55 cruise missiles, the Tu-160 were equipped with the stealthy Kh-101 variant in their first combat use. Russian news agency TASS reported on 17 November 2016 that modernized Tu-95MS armed with Kh-555 and Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles had launched airstrikes against targets described as terrorist in Syria. The UK Ministry of Defence said in November 2022 that it appeared that Russian forces, due to very much depleted weapons stores, were firing old AS-15 Kent cruise missiles with

345-726: The deployment of long-range nuclear missiles, the Russians made efforts to develop tactical versions of the Kh-55 with conventional warheads. First came the 600 km-range Kh-65SE (derived from the Kh-55) announced in 1992, then the 300 km-range Kh-SD tactical version of the Kh-101 for export, and finally the Kh-555. In 2001 the Russian Air Force are believed to have selected the Kh-101 and Kh-555 for development. A 1995 Russian document suggested that

368-432: The early 1970s. The sophistication of the design made it suitable for other roles, and a nuclear-tipped version was developed in tandem with the conventionally armed variant. An upgrade under development was cancelled in 1991, but reports in 1998 suggested an upgraded Kh-15 might be fitted to Su-35 (Flanker-E) tactical aircraft. The Kh-15 climbs to an altitude of about 40,000 m (130,000 ft) and then dives in on

391-726: The missile compartment with additional torpedo tubes for 35-40 land attack cruise missiles. They were probably nuclear-tipped S-10s during the Cold War, and then converted to use conventional warheads after the START I treaty restricted sub-launched nuclear cruise missiles. The US Navy has done the same on a grander scale with the SSGN conversions of four Ohio -class submarines . It has been suggested that S-10's could in future be fitted to converted Delta-class submarines , or to surface ships, but these have not been confirmed. Conventional unitary High Explosive (HE) warhead and submunition warhead versions of

414-470: The much more expensive supersonic missiles then in favour. In 1971 Raduga began working on the air-launched Kh-55, which first flew in 1976. That same year, RK-55 first flew. NPO Novator would work on the submarine- and ground-launched versions. In 1993 Novator exhibited the Sizzler series weapons, which appears to be based on the RK-55. It is a two-stage design, which goes supersonic during its final approach to

437-587: The nuclear warheads apparently replaced by inert ballast, hoping merely to distract Ukrainian air defenses. However the missiles can still pose a serious risk due to their kinetic energy and any unspent fuel left in the missile that might explode. Ukrainian Kh-55 nuclear missiles that had been transferred to Russia as part of a weapons-for-gas trade in 1999 were found to have been fired at Ukraine after Russian forces replaced their warheads with ballast, as dummy missiles used to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences. At least several civilians are known to have suffered as

460-562: The result of such attacks. One Kh-55 hit an apartment building in the capital of Ukraine at the end of 2022, killing a woman. Another hit a house in Kyiv Oblast, injuring a child. A Kh-55 missile with a ballast warhead, launched over Belarus on 16 December 2022, diverted course and fell in Poland, in a forest 15 km west of Bydgoszcz after having crossed around 500 km of Polish territory. According to Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki , it

483-460: The target. The S-10 is launched through 533 mm torpedo tubes. Fewer than 100 RK-55s had been deployed by the end of 1988. The new Akula class was the first class to receive the new missile. It was later fitted on the Sierra I/II and Victor III classes and the new Yasen-class submarines . Four Yankee-class submarines deployed in 1988 are of a design of particular note, replacing

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506-520: The warhead is designated KTS-120-12. The original Kh-55 entered service on 31 December 1983. The Kh-55SM followed in 1987. The conventionally armed Kh-55SE was flight tested on 13 January 2000, and first used in exercises over the Black Sea 17–22 April 2000. The Kh-555 is thought to have entered service in 2004. The Kh-55 can be carried by the Tu-95MS (NATO "Bear-H") and Tu-142M (NATO "Bear-F"), and

529-593: Was detected by Polish and allied radars, however the missile was accidentally found only on 22 April 2023 and the incident was revealed a couple of days later. It is not clear, if its fall in Poland, near aviation repair works in Bydgoszcz, engaged in military aid for Ukraine, was caused by a technical failure of an old missile, or was a provocation. It was believed originally that the RK-55 (SSC-X-4 "Slingshot" and SS-N-21 "Sampson") were land- and submarine-launched derivatives of

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