Posted on 08/24/2016 10:43:32 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Russia is finalizing the trials of a sophisticated cruise missile designated as Kh-32 and intended to equip the Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber fleet, according to the Izvestia daily. The cutting-edge missile is virtually invulnerable to ground-based air defenses and interceptors of a potential adversary. Once launched, the product of the Raduga Design Bureau climbs to an altitude of 40 km, to the stratosphere, to dive on the target at a steep angle.
Picture by Mikhail Polyakov, http://russianplanes.net
A source in Russia’s defense industry has confirmed that the Kh-32 missile’s tests were in final stages, and the weapon itself was at a very high degree of product availability. The Tactical Missiles Corporation, Raduga’s parent company, has confirmed that the work on the latest product is under way, but declined to comment on its progress.
According to expert Dmitry Kornev, the advanced cruise missile is designed, in the first place, to deal with enemy ships, radars and so-called radio-contrast targets, e.g. bridges, military bases, electric power plants, etc.
After the launch by the Tu-22M3, the missile climbs to 40 km, transitions to level flight, approaches the target and dives toward it. Since the Kh-32 has an inertial navigation system and a radar homing head, its accuracy is independent of GPS/GLONASS navigation satellite updates. Presumably, the weapon has a range of 1,000 km and a speed of 5,000 km/h at the least. The combination of speed and flight path makes it virtually invulnerable to enemy surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets.
The new cruise missile is a derivative of the Kh-22 family that has been until recently the mainstay of the weapons suites of both the Tu-22M3 supersonic bombers and the older, now-decommissioned Tu-22M2s.
Tu-22M3 number 9804 in flight test with 2x Kh-32 in 2013. Designed to break the enemy's air defense and attack carrier battle groups, Russian media reported that the missiles are able to exchange information after launch via datalink and able to withstand 20mm gun fire as well as small surface to air missiles. Photo by Sergei Lysenko,
http://russianplanes.net/id121764
The Soviet Navy alone had more than 10 Tu-22M3 regiments organized with five air divisions. The Soviet Air Force had about the same number of the bombers. Each regiment comprised 20 Tu-22Ms capable of hauling 40 or 60 Kh-22 missiles depending on the range to the target, according to Russian Navy historian Dmitry Boltenkov. A primary target for the Tu-22M3s were US Navy aircraft carrier strike groups. A salvo by a Tu-22M3 regiment would guarantee the elimination of the carrier itself and all of her escorts - cruisers, destroyers and guided missile frigates.
The Kh-32’s development was kicked off in the early 1990s and its early launches are believed to have taken place in the mid-2000s. In summer 2013, pictures of a Tu-22M3 carrying Kh-32 mockups on experimental sorties were published. They were taken at the airfield of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in the town of Zhukovsky, according to the Izvestia daily.
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I do miss being out of the loop from when I was in threat simulation. Had all the good scoop then..........
Yes, but 40,000m?! seems a bit excessive.
5000 km/hr = 3000 mi/hr
Flight time to target (at 1000 km) @ 12 minutes
Internal navigation is good for fixed/area targets.
Engagement of maneuvering targets requires a designating platform and an active seeker in the missile.
How is this different from previous versions of the threat? Proof against 20mm hits/Stinger?
Possible Countermeasures: (All permissible as attacking a US naval vessel is, prima fascia, an act of war.)
Destroy the bombers before they take off
Destroy the bombers in the air
Destroy the target designator
Jam the warhead seeker
Destroy/misdirect the missile (CIWS being upgraded to 30mm?)
Tu-22M2/3: 140 remaining in service(2010: 93 Russian AF, 53 Russian Naval Aviation). Manufactured during Cold War (@500)
What is current availability rate? India is also an operator (# unknown)
We are not going to be fighting the Russians or Indians in full scale conventional war any time soon.
No mention of Tu-16 as platform. Chinese are potential buyer (of the missile) if it can be fitted to that aircraft. PLAAF/PLAN operate @ 190 Xian H-6s of various marks (License built Tu-16).
Moves too fast for a Stinger to track. CIWS could do it but we’re busy removing CIWS installations from our ships for RAM launchers.
Engagement could be optical only and semi-autonomous. No separate designation platform would be required.
Maybe we will, maybe we won’t be in a full-fledged war with the Russians or Indians - but the Russians will cheerfully sell them to whoever has money not to mention their client states. If their Tu-22M2s could carry it, there’s a lot of other platforms that can easily do so.
That is quite a load! Sounds like hogwash to me.
Missed the part about the whole regiment of 20 bombers carrying that many, so it makes sense now. Need coffee...
And I don't believe it.
That is a big ASM.
More of the quote: “ 20 Tu-22Ms capable of hauling 40 or 60 Kh-22 missiles”.
“Aegis shield”
It’s not a real shield, just a few weapon systems.
“Moves too fast for a Stinger to track. CIWS could do it but we’re busy removing CIWS installations from our ships for RAM launchers.”
“But all is not lost!” (he wrote sarcastically) “We have SeaRAM which combines the autonomous detection and fire control system of the CIWS with an 11 cell RAM launcher.”
How that would perform against the hardened Kh-32 is anyone’s guess.
“Engagement could be optical only and semi-autonomous. No separate designation platform would be required.”
Can’t really offer much other than what I wrote before: jam the links (that the missiles are using to update each other) and jam the tracker(s) (laser dazzle?)
Googling the topic turned up a pretty interesting paper from the 1990s on the issues involved with autonomous optical targeting and tracking:
http://www.eoimaging.com/documents/EO_Tracking_System_Considerations_I.pdf
“Maybe we will, maybe we won’t be in a full-fledged war with the Russians or Indians”
The Indians, of course, are a friendly power. As for the Russians, they are primarily interested in their “Near Abroad” (Eastern Europe/Middle East). Just don’t see them getting into a direct shooting war with the Unites States over either one of those regions.
” - but the Russians will cheerfully sell them to whoever has money not to mention their client states.”
Of that, there can be no doubt. In fact, Russia is presently acting as a leading weapons developer for the PRC.
“If their Tu-22M2s could carry it, there’s a lot of other platforms that can easily do so.”
Actually, maybe not.
The 600 km parent of the Kh-23, the Kh-22, weighs 12,800 lbs yielding a lb/km ratio of 21.34 lbs/km. If we ASSUME a similar ratio for the 1000 km Kh-23, you get a possible weapon weight of 21,333 lb. Payload for the Tu-16/Xian H-6K is nominally 20,000 lbs.
In addition, the Kh-22 is 38+ feet long. Most of the anti-ship missiles carried by the Xian H-6K are in the 18-24 foot class.
This is probably why there was no mention of the Tu-16 in the article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_H-6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-22
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