Kh-59

Kh-59 Ovod
(NATO reporting name: AS-13 'Kingbolt')
Kh-59M Ovod-M (AS-18 'Kazoo')

Kh-59MK2 at MACS 2009
Type air-to-surface missile
anti-shipping missile
Place of origin Soviet Union  Russia
Service history
In service 1980-current
Used by Russia, China, India, Algeria
Production history
Designer Raduga
Manufacturer Tactical Missiles Corporation
Specifications
Weight 930 kg (2,050 lb)[1]
Length 570 cm (220 in) [1]
Diameter 38.0 cm (15.0 in) [1]
Warhead Cluster or shaped-charge fragmentation[1]
Warhead weight 320 kg (705 lb) [2]
Engine Kh-59 :two-stage rocket
Kh-59ME :rocket then turbofan
Wingspan 130 cm (51.2 in) [1]
Operational
range
 Kh-59ME(export) :115 km (62 nmi)[1]
Kh-59ME : 200 km (110 nmi)
Kh-59MK : 285 km (150 nmi)
Speed Mach 0.72-0.88[1]
Guidance
system
 inertial guidance (then TV guidance), millimeter wave active radar seeker (Kh-59MK, Kh-59MK2 land attack version)[3]
Launch
platform
 Kh-59ME :Su-30MK[1]
Kh-59 : Su-24M, MiG-27, Su-17M3/22M4, HAL Tejas, Su-25 and Su-30[4]

The Kh-59 Ovod (Russian: Х-59 Овод 'Gadfly'; AS-13 'Kingbolt') is a Russian TV-guided cruise missile with a two-stage solid-fuel propulsion system and 200 km range. The Kh-59M Ovod-M (AS-18 'Kazoo') is a variant with a bigger warhead and turbojet engine. It is primarily a land-attack missile but the Kh-59MK variant targets shipping.[3]

Development

The initial design was based on the Raduga Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter'), but it had to be abandoned because the missile speed was too high for visual target acquisition.

Raduga OKB developed the Kh-59 in the 1970s as a longer ranged version of the Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'),[5] as a precision stand-off weapon for the Su-24M and late-model MiG-27's.[4] The electro-optical sensors for this and other weapons such as the Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge') and KAB-500 Kr bombs were developed by S A Zverev NPO in Krasnogorsk.[5]

It is believed that development of the Kh-59M started in the 1980s.[3] Details of the Kh-59M were first revealed in the early 1990s.[3]

Design

The original Kh-59 is propelled by a solid fuel engine, and incorporates a solid fuel accelerator in the tail. The folding stabilizers are located in the front of the missile, with wings and rudder in the rear. The Kh-59 cruises at an altitude of about 7 meters above water or 100-1,000 meters above ground with the help of a radar altimeter. It can be launched at speeds of 600 to 1,000 km/h at altitudes of 0.2 to 11 kilometers and has a CEP of 2 to 3 meters.[2] It is carried on an AKU-58-1 launch pylon.[4]

The Kh-59ME has an external turbofan engine below the body just forward of the rear wings, but retains the powder-fuel accelerator. It also has a dual guidance system consisting of an inertial guidance system to guide it into the target area and a television system to guide it to the target itself.[1]

The 36MT turbofan engine developed for the Kh-59M class of missiles is manufactured by NPO Saturn of Russia.[6]

Target coordinates are fed into the missile before launch, and the initial flight phase is conducted under inertial guidance. At a distance of 10 km from the target the television guidance system is activated. An operator aboard the aircraft visually identifies the target and locks the missile onto it.

Operational history

Although the original Kh-59 could be carried by the MiG-27, Su-17M3, Su-22M4, Su-24M, Su-25 and Su-30 family if they carried an APK-9 datalink pod, it was only fielded on the Su-24M in Russian service.[4]

Variants

Kh-59ME

Proposed development options for the Kh-59M/ME have included alternative payloads (including cluster munitions) but their current development status is unclear.[4][7]

Operators

Map with Kh-59 operators in blue and former operators in red

Current operators

Former operators

 Soviet Union
Soviet Air Force

Similar weapons

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rosoboronexport Air Force Department and Media & PR Service, AEROSPACE SYSTEMS export catalogue (PDF), Rosoboronexport State Corporation, p. 124
  2. 1 2 "Raduga Kh-59 (AS-13 Kingbolt) and Kh-59M (AS-18 Kazoo)". Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Kh-59M, Kh-59ME Ovod-M (AS-18 'Kazoo')", Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, 2010-12-03, retrieved 2011-04-28
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kh-59 Ovod (AS-13 'Kingbolt'), 2007-10-24, retrieved 2009-02-03
  5. 1 2 3 "Kh-59 (AS-13 'Kingbolt'/Ovod)", Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, 2008-09-09, retrieved 2009-02-03
  6. ↑ "Saturn military engines for unmanned aerial vehicles". NPO Saturn website. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  7. ↑ Wiebe, Virgil; Titus Peachey (2000). "Clusters of Death". The Mennonite Central Committee Global Report on Cluster Bomb Production and Use. Mennonite Central Committee. Retrieved 28 April 2011. Also known as the Kh-59M Ovod-M, the AS-18 is modernized version of AS-13 Kingbolt ... The warhead can be either a 705-lb high explosive or 617-lb cluster submunitions.
  8. ↑ http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php
  9. ↑ 2011 Annual Report of Tactical Missile Corporation, http://bmpd.livejournal.com/290141.html

References

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