Type air-to-surface missile In service 1980s-current | Place of origin Soviet Union | |
 | ||
Used by Warsaw Pact, China, India, Iraq Wars Iran–Iraq War
2014 Libyan conflict
Russian-led military intervention in Syria Designer Matius Bisnovat
Georgiy I. Khokhlov | ||
The Kh-29 (Russian: Х-29; NATO: AS-14 'Kedge'; GRAU: 9M721) is a Soviet air-to-surface missile with a range of 10–30 km. It has a large warhead of 320 kg, has a choice of laser, infrared, active radar or TV guidance, and is typically carried by tactical aircraft such as the Su-24, Su-30, MiG-29K as well as the "T/TM" models of the Su-25, giving that craft an expanded standoff capability.
Contents
- Development
- Design
- Operational history
- 2014 Libyan conflict
- Variants
- Current operators
- Former operators
- References
The Kh-29 is intended for primary use against larger battlefield targets and infrastructure such as industrial buildings, depots and bridges, but can also be used against ships up to 10,000 tonnes, hardened aircraft shelters and concrete runways.
Development
Design started in the late 1970s at the Molniya design bureau in Ukraine on what would be their only air-to-ground munition, but when they moved exclusively to space work Vympel took over development of the Kh-29. The first firing of the missile took place in 1976 and after extensive trials the Kh-29 was accepted into service in 1980.
Design
The basic aerodynamic layout of the Kh-29 is similar to the Molniya R-60 (AA-8 'Aphid'), reflecting Molniya's heritage in air-to-air missiles. The laser guidance head came from the Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen') and the TV guidance from the Kh-59 (AS-13 'Kingbolt'), mated to a large warhead.
It has been compared to the United States' AGM-65 Maverick, but the AGM-65 is a much smaller missile than the Kh-29, and weighs less than half as much.
Operational history
The Kh-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1980, and has been widely exported since.
The Kh-29L were used by Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24 aircraft in the 2015 Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War.
2014 Libyan conflict
Libyan Su-24-borne Kh-29Ts supplied in large quantities to Muammar Gaddafi's Jamahiriya have been used by Islamist factions against pro-government forces around Tripoli during the current low-level civil war (they were seized from Ghardabiya Air Base depots). Their use, however, was in an unguided ground-to-ground role, launched from modified trucks and with their fins and ailerons at the front and back removed for a somewhat more stable flight path.