New warheads for the Russian Kh-101 cluster cruise missiles, to interdict large areas
According to images and Ukrainian media, the Kh-101 missile now carries a cluster warhead, in its twin-warhead variant. This is to allow it to hit large areas, such as airports, despite not having very high precision.
Russia has reportedly introduced another modification to the Kh-101 ALCM (X-101 Air-Launched Cruise Missile), following variants that release decoys to deflect SAMs (Surface-to-Air Missiles) and dual/tandem warheads.
Defense Express Ukraine , which said the missile could also be the Kh-555, said Russia fired "five" of these missiles from its Tu-95s, according to data collected.
The submunition-releasing cluster warhead was discovered on its way to “critical infrastructure.” Russian bloggers stated that this version will be useful for attacking Ukrainian air bases and admitted that at the beginning of the war they did not have this capability.
The image reported by Ukrainian reports and posted on
The Kh-101 is fired from Russian Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers deep into Ukraine's rear battlefield targets, such as air bases and power generation infrastructure in cities as far west.
Cluster warheads eliminate the need for precision
These stand-off and drone strikes are also used to release tactical Iskander and Iskander-M in coordination to confuse and bait Ukrainian air defenses.
Cluster bomb for Kh-101
The introduction of this weapon by the Russian armed forces, on the eve of the arrival of the first F 16s, which should arrive in the next few weeks, seems destined to prepare the field for a series of interdiction attacks against the infrastructures intended to host the new Ukrainian fighters.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
The article New warheads for the Russian Kh-101 cluster cruise missiles, to interdict large areas comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/nuove-testate-per-i-missili-fa-crociera-russi-kh-101-a-grappolo-per-interdire-ampie-aree/ on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:00:01 +0000.