Raduga Kh-20
Encyclopedia
The Raduga Kh-20 was a cruise missile
armed with a nuclear warhead which was developed by the Soviet Union
during the Cold War
. The Kh-20 was designed to be air-launched.
was designed by M.I. Gurevich
for the Tu-95 strategic bomber. Development began in 1954, drawing on experience with MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighters. Two Tu-95 were converted to Tu-95K missile carriers in 1955. Initial testing of the missile systems was performed using four specially modified MiG-19 fighters designated SM-20/I and SM-20/II for mothership-missile interface and airborne launch testing, and SM-K/I and SM-K/II for guidance system and ground launch testing. First SM-20/I launch from Tu-95K was made in the fall of 1956. One of the greatest challenges in the early development was starting the missile's Lyulka AL-7
F turbojet engine after prolonged flight in very cold upper atmosphere. Kh-20 began flight testing on March 17, 1958. The first launch was unsuccessful and range and accuracy did not meet expectations. This was in part because the warhead and the guidance system weight exceeded projected limits. Government trials took place between October 15, 1958, and November 1, 1959, and consisted of 16 launches of which 11 were considered successful although accuracy still left much to be desired. Kh-20 entered service in 1960. The production version, designated Kh-20M, featured an improved nuclear warhead. The arsenal initially consisted of two Kh-20 per Tu-95K, which amounted to 130 missiles for approximately 40 Tu-95K and 25 Tu-95KD. This number was later reduced to one missile per aircraft.
Kh-20 was initially intended for retaliation strikes against major targets in the United States. However, arming a Tu-95 with Kh-20 took 22 hours and the first-generation nuclear warheads were difficult to store which made them unsuitable for first-response weapons. Therefore, Kh-20 was relegated to secondary strikes against targets surviving the initial attack and against aircraft carrier groups. Arming time was eventually reduced to 4 hours and reliability was improved. The weakest link of the Kh-20 remained its guidance system and good accuracy required manual guidance which was vulnerable to jamming.
An attempt to adapt Myasishchev M-4
for Kh-20 was unsuccessful because of the missile's large size. High-altitude supersonic target M-20 was also abandoned due to high cost. By the late 1970s, Kh-20 no longer had the performance required to penetrate enemy air defenses and it was replaced by Raduga Kh-22
(NATO designation AS-4 Kitchen) by mid-1980s.
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
armed with a nuclear warhead which was developed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The Kh-20 was designed to be air-launched.
Background
Kh-20 (Х-20; NATO designation AS-3 Kangaroo) cruise missileCruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
was designed by M.I. Gurevich
Mikhail Gurevich
Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich was a Soviet aircraft designer, a partner of the famous MiG military aviation bureau. He was of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage....
for the Tu-95 strategic bomber. Development began in 1954, drawing on experience with MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighters. Two Tu-95 were converted to Tu-95K missile carriers in 1955. Initial testing of the missile systems was performed using four specially modified MiG-19 fighters designated SM-20/I and SM-20/II for mothership-missile interface and airborne launch testing, and SM-K/I and SM-K/II for guidance system and ground launch testing. First SM-20/I launch from Tu-95K was made in the fall of 1956. One of the greatest challenges in the early development was starting the missile's Lyulka AL-7
Lyulka AL-7
|-Specifications :-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:...
F turbojet engine after prolonged flight in very cold upper atmosphere. Kh-20 began flight testing on March 17, 1958. The first launch was unsuccessful and range and accuracy did not meet expectations. This was in part because the warhead and the guidance system weight exceeded projected limits. Government trials took place between October 15, 1958, and November 1, 1959, and consisted of 16 launches of which 11 were considered successful although accuracy still left much to be desired. Kh-20 entered service in 1960. The production version, designated Kh-20M, featured an improved nuclear warhead. The arsenal initially consisted of two Kh-20 per Tu-95K, which amounted to 130 missiles for approximately 40 Tu-95K and 25 Tu-95KD. This number was later reduced to one missile per aircraft.
Kh-20 was initially intended for retaliation strikes against major targets in the United States. However, arming a Tu-95 with Kh-20 took 22 hours and the first-generation nuclear warheads were difficult to store which made them unsuitable for first-response weapons. Therefore, Kh-20 was relegated to secondary strikes against targets surviving the initial attack and against aircraft carrier groups. Arming time was eventually reduced to 4 hours and reliability was improved. The weakest link of the Kh-20 remained its guidance system and good accuracy required manual guidance which was vulnerable to jamming.
An attempt to adapt Myasishchev M-4
Myasishchev M-4
The Myasishchev M-4 Molot , USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 37", NATO reporting name 'Bison'.) is a four-engined strategic bomber designed by Vladimir Myasishchev and manufactured by the Soviet Union in the 1950s to provide a bomber capable of attacking targets in North America...
for Kh-20 was unsuccessful because of the missile's large size. High-altitude supersonic target M-20 was also abandoned due to high cost. By the late 1970s, Kh-20 no longer had the performance required to penetrate enemy air defenses and it was replaced by Raduga Kh-22
Raduga Kh-22
The Raduga Kh-22 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:...
(NATO designation AS-4 Kitchen) by mid-1980s.
Specifications
- Wingspan: 9.15 m
- Length: 14.95 m
- Diameter: 1.81 m
- Height: 3.02 m
- Empty weight: 5,878 kg
- Launch weight: 12,000 kg
- Engine: 1x Lyulka AL-7Lyulka AL-7|-Specifications :-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:...
FK turbojet - Cruise speed: MachMach numberMach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
2.0 - Cruise ceiling: Target-dependent, up to 20,000 m
- Range: 380–600 km
- Guidance: Inertial with remote correction over radio
- Warhead: 2,300 kg thermonuclear, 0.8-3.0 mtTNT equivalentTNT equivalent is a method of quantifying the energy released in explosions. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 gigajoules, which is approximately the amount of energy released in the detonation of one ton of TNT...