Kh-22

The Raduga Kh-22 (Russian: Х-22; AS-4 'Kitchen') is a large, long-range anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union. It was intended for use against US Navy aircraft carriers and carrier battle groups, with either a conventional or nuclear warhead.

Development

After analyzing World War II naval battles and encounters in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Soviet military thinkers assessed that the times of large seaborne battles were over, and that stand-off attacks were the way to neutralize and incapacitate large battle groups without having to field a similar force against them. Substituting cruise missiles for air attacks, VVS and AV-MF commanders set about to convert their heavy bombers to raketonosets, or missile carriers, which could be launched against approaching enemy fleets and task forces from coastal or island airfields. The Kh-22 (Complex 22) weapon was developed by the Raduga design bureau and used to arm the Tupolev Tu-22M.

Design

The Kh-22 uses an Isayev liquid-fuel rocket engine, fueled with TG-02 (Tonka-250) and IRFNA (inhibited red fuming nitric acid), giving it a maximum speed of Mach 4.6 and a range of up to 600 km (320 nmi). It can be launched in either high-altitude or low-altitude mode. In high-altitude mode, it climbs to an altitude of 27,000 m (89,000 ft) and makes a high-speed dive into the target, with a terminal speed of about Mach 4.6. In low-altitude mode, it climbs to 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and makes a shallow dive at about Mach 3.5, making the final approach at an altitude under 500 m (1,600 ft). The missile is guided by a gyro-stabilized autopilot in conjunction with a radio altimeter.

Soviet tests revealed that when a shaped charge warhead weighing 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) was used in the missile, the resulting hole measured 5 m (16 ft) in diameter, and was 12 m (40 ft) deep.^[3][4] Soviet Tests showed that Kh-22MA equipped with 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) RDX warhead and with approach speed of 800 m/s (Mach 2.4), used against aircraft carrier warship, will make hole with resulting diameter of 22 m² (240 sq ft), and warhead cumulative jet will burned through internal compartments of ship to the depth of 12 m.^[5][6][7][8]

By August 2016, Russia was finalizing the trials of the Kh-32 cruise missile, a derivative of the Kh-22. Designed for use by the Tu-22M3 bomber, the missile is designed to climb to 40 km (130,000 ft) to the stratosphere after launch, transition to level flight, then perform a steep dive to the target; its combination of speed and flight path makes it virtually invulnerable to interception by ground-based air defenses and fighters. The advanced cruise missile is designed to target enemy ships, radars, and "radio-contrast targets" like bridges, military bases, electric power plants, and others. The Kh-32 has an inertial navigation system and radar homing head, making it independent of GPS/GLONASS navigation satellites. Presumably, it has a range of 1,000 km (620 mi; 540 nmi) and a speed of at least 5,000 km/h (3,100 mph; Mach 4.1).^[9]

Operational history

Kh-22 under a Tu-22M3

The first service-ready missiles were ready in 1962.

The main launch platform is the Tu-22M 'Backfire'.^[10][11] Russia has also used it on the Тu-22К 'Blinder-B' and Tu-95К22 'Bear-G'.

Variants

Two initial versions were built, the Kh-22 with a large conventional warhead and the Kh-22N, with a 350-1000-kiloton nuclear warhead.^[12] In the mid-1970s this was supplemented by the Kh-22P, an anti-radiation missile for the destruction of radar installations. In the 1970s the Kh-22 was upgraded to Kh-22M and Kh-22MA standard, with new attack profiles, somewhat longer range, and a datalink allowing mid-course updates.

• Kh-22E - a conventionally armed version for export.
• Kh-32 - a conventionally armed (also nuclear) deep upgrade mach 5 variant of Kh-22, with 1,000 km range.^[9][13] It features an improved rocket motor and a new seeker head. Currently produced and supplied to the Tu-22M3.^[14] Warhead size has been reduced to 500kg (1,102lbs) to improve range.^[15]
• Kh-22M/MA - new variants with almost 600 km range. Weight ~12 000 lbs, speed ~mach 5, contain 1000 kg of RDX.

Kh-22 under a Tu-22M3

Operators

Current

 Russia

• Russian Air Force

Former

 Iraq

 Ukraine

• 423 scrapped after Ukrainian Tu-22M fleet's decommission.^[16]

 Soviet Union

Notes

References

• Gordon, Yefim (2004). Soviet/Russian Aircraft Weapons Since World War Two. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-188-1. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raduga Kh-22.

• http://airwar.ru/weapon/kr/x22.html (Russian)