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Tactical air-to-surface missile
Kh-23 Grom is a tactical air-to-surface missile originating in Soviet Union. It was built by Zvezda-Strela. Reported operators include FSU, Warsaw Pact, Iraq, India.
Tactical air-to-surface missile
Soviet Union
Kh-66 :20 June 1968 Kh-23 :1973 Kh-23M :1974
FSU, Warsaw Pact, Iraq, India
Yurii N. Korolyov
Zvezda-Strela
A921 :287 kg (633 lb)
A921 :3.525 m (11 ft 7 in)
27.5 cm (10.8 in)
78.5 cm (2 ft 6.9 in)
111 kg (245 lb)
Solid fuel rocket
2–10 km (1.1–5.4 nmi)
2,160–2,700 km/h (1,340–1,680 mph)
Kh-66: Line-Of-Sight Beam riding Kh-23: Radio command guidance Grom-B : TV guidance
Yak-38 , MiG-21 PFM, MiG-23 , MiG-27 , Su-17 M3/20/22/22M3/M4,
North Korea
Afghanistan
Algeria
Angola
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Congo
Cuba
Czechoslovakia − Passed on to successor states
Czech Republic
East Germany − Passed on to the unified German state
Egypt
Finland
Georgia
Germany
Hungary
India
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Libya
Nigeria
Poland
Romania − Locally produced as the A-921
Serbia − Grom
Slovakia
Soviet Union − passed on to successor states
Sudan
Syria
Ukraine
Vietnam
Yugoslavia − Passed on to successor states
The Zvezda Kh-66 and Kh-23 Grom ( Russian : Х -23 Гром 'Thunder'; NATO : AS-7 'Kerry' ) are a family of early Soviet tactical air-to-surface missiles with a range of 10 km.
The Zvezda Kh-66 and Kh-23 Grom ( Russian : Х -23 Гром 'Thunder'; NATO : AS-7 'Kerry' ) are a family of early Soviet tactical air-to-surface missiles with a range of 10 km. They were intended for use against small ground or naval targets. The Kh-66 was effectively a heavy-warhead, beam-riding version of the K-8 (AA-3 'Anab') air-to-air missile rushed into service in Vietnam in 1968. The Kh-23 was an improved Kh-66 with command-guidance, similar to the AGM-12 Bullpup .
The resulting weapon used the body of a K-8 (AA-3 'Anab') , K-5 guidance and propulsion systems, but increased the warhead from 13 kg (29 lb) to 100 kg (220 lb). This had the big advantage of allowing the new weapon to be fitted to any aircraft capable of firing the K-5. Design began in 1966, so the project was known as Kh-66 or Izdeliye 66 ('Article 66'). The Kh-66 was a beam-riding weapon that was first tested on the MiG-21PFM , with the first launches of the missile in September 1966. It entered production in 1968 for that aircraft. The Kh-66 was only an interim solution as it required the launch aircraft to dive towards the target to maintain lock on the target. It entered service on 20 June 1968 .The reason it was only carried on the MIG-21PFM was, since it was a beam-riding missile, it was paired with a radar, the RP-21M, which other aircraft did not have.
Meanwhile, Korolyov took over work on the Kh-23 project intended for carriage on the Soviet Union's new MiG-23. The Kh-23 became a development of the Kh-66 design with an improved propellant and new Delta-R1M guidance system. The main practical difference was that it was a line-of-sight radio-command weapon similar to the Bullpup, allowing it to be fired in level flight (unlike the Kh-66). The first ten were tested in early 1968, but significant delays were caused by problems with unreliable guidance which was eventually traced to the smoke generator which interfered with the antenna. Once the receiver had been moved to a tail extension, the government tested the missile on the MiG-23 and MiG-23B between 20 March 1970 and 3 October 1973. and it entered service in 1973. A laser-guided version of the Kh-23, the Kh-25, became the basis for the AS-10 'Karen' family of missiles. Technology from these was 'backported' to the Kh-23 to create the Kh-23M in 1974.
The Kh-66 entered production for the MiG-21 in 1968, and the Kh-23 was certified for the MiG-23 'Flogger' in 1973.
Kh-23M - improved Kh-23 with technology from the Kh-25 family
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kh-23 Grom equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
North Korea