Kh-58 Explained

Is Missile:yes
Kh-58
(NATO reporting name: AS-11 'Kilter')
Origin:Soviet Union/Russia
Type:air-launched anti-radiation missile, surface-to-surface missile
Used By:Russia, India, Algeria, Iran
Wars:
Design Date:1970s
Manufacturer:Raduga NPO
Service:1982–present
Engine:Solid rocket
Weight:650abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Length:480abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Diameter:38abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Wingspan:117abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Speed:Mach 3.6
Vehicle Range:Kh-58: up to 120abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Kh-58U :250abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Kh-58E: 46-
Filling:High Explosive
Filling Weight:1490NaN0
Guidance:Inertial with passive radar seeker
Launch Platform:Su-24M, Mig-25BM, Su-22M4, Su-25TK, Su-30MK

The Kh-58 (Russian: [[Kha (Cyrillic)|Х]]-58; NATO: AS-11 'Kilter') is a Soviet anti-radiation missile with a range of 120 km. the Kh-58U variant was still the primary anti-radiation missile of Russia and its allies. It is being superseded by the Kh-31. The NATO reporting name is "Kilter".

Development

The Bereznyak design bureau had developed the liquid-fuelled Kh-28 (AS-9 ‘Kyle’) and the KSR-5P (AS-6) anti-radiation missiles. They merged with Raduga in 1967, so Raduga was given the contract in the early 1970s to develop a solid-fuel successor to the Kh-28 to equip the new Su-24M 'Fencer-D' attack aircraft. Consequently, the project was initially designated the Kh-24, before becoming the Kh-58.

During the 1980s a longer-range variant was developed, the Kh-58U, with lock-on-after-launch capability. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Raduga have offered several versions for export.

Design

It was designed to be used in conjunction with the Su-24's L-086A "Fantasmagoria A" or L-086B "Fantasmagoria B" target acquisition system. The range achieved depends heavily on the launch altitude, thus the original Kh-58 has a range of 36 km from low level, 120 km from 10000abbr=onNaNabbr=on, and 160 km from 15000abbr=onNaNabbr=on.

Like other Soviet missiles of the time, the Kh-58 could be fitted with a range of seeker heads designed to target specific air defence radars such as MIM-14 Nike-Hercules or MIM-104 Patriot.

Operational history

The Kh-58 was deployed in 1982 on the Su-24M 'Fencer D' in Soviet service. The Kh-58U entered service in 1991 on the Su-24M and MiG-25BM 'Foxbat-F'. The Kh-58E version can be carried on the Su-22M4 and Su-25TK as well, while the Kh-58UShE appears to be intended for Chinese Su-30MKK's.

Kh-58U missiles were first used in combat in November 1987 by Iraqi MiG-25BMs during the Iran-Iraq war against Iranian MIM-23B Hawk batteries, disabling at least one radar. In July 1988, Iraqi forces used upgraded Kh-58Us and Kh-31Ps against Iranian Westinghouse ADS-4 low-band and long-range early-warning radars, succeeding in destroying a radar site in Subashi with two missiles.[1]

In August 2007, a Russian Kh-58 missile was fired at a Georgian radar site near the town of Tsitelubani, but it missed and failed to explode.[2] During the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, Russian forces made no use of anti-radiation missiles, likely due Georgian air defenses keeping their radar systems turned off until Russian aircraft were in range and turn them back on long enough to acquire and fire at their targets, and a possible lack of confidence of the Russian Air Force in their anti-radiation missiles capabilities following the 2007 Georgia missile incident.[3]

The Kh-58 have also seen use during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to senior sources of the Ukrainian Air Force, some 9K33 Osa and 9K37 Buk systems were destroyed by Kh-31P and Kh-58 missiles during the war.[4]

Variants

Some Western sources have referred to a Kh-58A that is either optimised for naval radars or has an active seeker head for use as an anti-shipping missile - it probably represents another name for the Kh-58U.

Operators

Current operators

Belarus

Former operators

Iraq

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Cooper . Tom . Bishop . Farzad . Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat . 20 November 2012 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-1-78200-761-6 . 74–75 . 27 August 2023 . en.
  2. Web site: Experts invited by Georgia say plane from Russia . Reuters . 27 August 2023 . en . 15 August 2007.
  3. Book: Cohen . Ariel . The Russian Military and the Georgia War: Lessons and Implications . 2011 . Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College . 978-1-58487-491-1 . 20, 40 . 27 August 2023 . en.
  4. Book: Williams . Ian . Putin's Missile War: Russia's Strike Campaign in Ukraine . 16 August 2023 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-5381-7067-0 . 29 . 26 August 2023 . en.
  5. Web site: Kh-58UShKE Anti-Radiation Missile. Rosoboronexport.
  6. http://www.janes.com/article/53889/maks-2015-krtv-adds-ir-seeker-to-kh-58ushk-anti-radiation-missile MAKS 2015: KRTV adds IR seeker to Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missile
  7. Book: International Institute for Strategic Studies . The Military Balance 2023 . 15 February 2023 . Routledge . 978-1032508955 . 1st . International Institute for Strategic Studies .
  8. Book: Altobchi . Ali . Cooper . Tom . Fontanellaz . Adrien . Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003 . 2022 . Helion & Company Publishing . Warwick, UK . 978-1-914377-18-1 . 59.
  9. Book: International Institute for Strategic Studies . The Military Balance 2014 . 5 February 2014 . Routledge . 978-1032508955 . 1st . International Institute for Strategic Studies .