Illustrative image. (Russian Ministry of Defense)
At least one Kh-101 cruise missile armed with a cluster warhead hit Chernivtsi International Airport in western Ukraine during a large-scale Russian missile and drone attack over the night of July 11 and 12.
Ukraine alleged that Russia launched 26 missiles of various types and 597 fixed-wing suicide drones during the overnight attack.
The Kh-101, which features a stealthy design, is a subsonic air-launched land-attack cruise missile with a reported range of 2,500-5,500 kilometers. The missile is equipped with a GLONASS-aide inertial navigation system and can follow terrain while flying on a low altitude using a doppler radar and an electro-optical system.
The missile is typically armed with a warhead weighing 400 kg. The first documented use of the version armed with a cluster warhead was last year.
The unique warhead dispenses dozens of submunitions as the missile passes on an extremely low altitude over the target. This makes it the perfect option for targeting large military gatherings, air defense systems or airports as was the case in Chernivtsi. A single cruise missile armed with such warheads can render a long runway unstable.
The Kh-101 is extremely difficult to intercept due to its stealthy design, in addition to the fact that it is equipped with an electronic warfare system and active counter-measures, namely flares.
Russia is reported to have a nuclear-armed version of the Kh-101, dubbed the Kh-102. Both versions of the cruise missile are typically deployed from Tu-160 strategic bombers as well as from the Tu-95MS and Tu-95MSM cruise missiles carriers.
The Kh-101 survivability, long-range and high-precision makes it the perfect weapon to strike high-value targets in well-protected areas far behind the front.
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n dunnit wot..
impressive. waaaaaay more concentrated and linear than that atacms that hit that tourist filled beach in crimea.
nazi punk rommel…die already..