Raduga Ch-26

Raduga Ch-26
Tu-16K with a Raduga Ch-26
General Information
Type	Anti-ship missile
Local name	Ch-26, KSR-5
NATO designation	AS-6 Kingfish
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Manufacturer	Raduga design office
development	1962
Commissioning	1973
Working time	1973-1992
Technical specifications
length	10.56 m
diameter	920 mm
Combat weight	3,950 kg
span	2,600 mm
drive	Liquid fuel rocket engine
speed	Mach 3.0
Range	400-700 km
Service ceiling	22,000 m
Furnishing
steering	INS , data link
Target location	active or passive radar seeker
Warhead	900 kg high explosive armor piercing or nuclear warhead 350 kt
Detonator	Impact and delay detonators
Weapon platforms	Planes
Lists on the subject

The Ch-26 was an airborne long-range anti-ship missile from Soviet production. The Russian name is Ch-26 ; The system index of the Russian armed forces KSR-5 and the NATO code AS-6 Kingfish .

development

Since the Ch-22, introduced in 1964, turned out to be too heavy for medium bombers such as the Tu-16 , it was planned to produce a scaled-down version of this guided weapon. Development in the Raduga design office began in 1962. The system was finally introduced in 1973 by the Soviet Naval Air Force. By 1988, 300 of the nuclear version and an unknown number of the conventional version were produced. The Raduga Ch-26 is used to combat strategic sea targets such as aircraft carriers , cruisers and amphibious assault ships . The guided missile was designed to sink a large warship with a single hit or at least render it inoperable. With the nuclear variant, an entire fleet can be destroyed in one fell swoop.

technology

Before starting, the rough position and course of the target must be entered in the missile's navigation system. Then the guided missile could be launched from an altitude range of 500-11,000 m. After the drop, there is initially a short, idle phase. The rocket engine in the rear of the guided missile only ignites at a safe distance from the aircraft. The Ch-26 is powered by a two-chamber liquid fuel engine. The guided missile hull contains 660 liters of TG-02 fuel and 1,010 liters of AK-2 oxidizer . The engine can be operated with five different thrust levels in a range from 11  kN to 70 kN. The engine accelerates the guided weapon to a speed of around Mach 3. The cruise flight takes place at an altitude of 18,500–22,000 m. The Ch-26 is a fire-and-forget guided weapon and the flight to the target area is autonomous with the help of the inertial navigation platform . Updated target data can be sent from the launch platform to the missile using a data link . A radar altimeter ensures the necessary safety distance between the missile and the sea surface. The on-board, active or passive radar search head is used for the target approach. Once the target has been captured, it is approached in a dive of 30–60 °. The 900 kg armor-piercing fragmentation warhead ignites with a time delay, so that it explodes inside the ship. Due to the high speed and its size, the Ch-26 has a high kinetic energy, which has a great potential for damage. The missile can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead with an explosive power of 350  kt .

The following two flight profiles are possible:

• High-high: cruise flight at Mach 3.0 at an altitude of 18,500–22,000 m. Dive into the target at an angle of 30–60 °. Range depending on version and starting altitude 400–700 km.
• Low-Low: Low- altitude flight at Mach 1.3 at an altitude of 50–100 m. Range 200–250 km.

variants

• KSR-5 (Ch-26): standard variant with inertial navigation, active radar target search on final approach and conventional 900 kg penetration warhead. Range 350 km.
• KSR-5N (Ch-26N): Version with 350 kT nuclear warhead . Range 700 km.
• KSR-5P (Ch-26P): Version with passive radar search head.
• KSR-5M (Ch-26M): Improved version with a new seeker head and improved engine. Range 400 km.
• KSR-5MP (Ch-26MP): Improved version of the KSR-5P.
• KSR-5MW: Developed from the KSR-5 guided missile. Target display missiles ( target drones ) for training anti-aircraft units.
• KSR-5NM: Developed from the KSR-5M guided missile. Target display missiles (target drones) for training anti-aircraft units.

Carrier aircraft

• Tupolev Tu-16 with max. 2 guided missiles
• Tupolev Tu-22M with max. 3 guided missiles
• Tupolev Tu-95 with max. 3 guided missiles

status

When the Tu-16K was retired from the Russian armed forces in 1992 , the Ch-26 was also retired.

distribution

•  Iraq - retired
•  Soviet Union - retired
•  Ukraine - Retired and scrapped in 2002

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The AS-6 Kingfish DTIG air-to-ground guided missile system - Defense Threat Information Group, January 1997
2. ^ Duncan Lennox: Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems. Jane's Information Group , 2005, ISBN 0-710-60880-2 .
3. ↑ ausairpower.net , accessed April 2, 2014
4. ^ ^{A b} Phillip E. Pace: Detecting and Classifying Low Probability of Intercept Radar. Artech House Publishers, 2003. p. 581.
5. ↑ rbase.new-factoria.ru , accessed April 2, 2014
6. ↑ airwar.ru , accessed April 2, 2014
7. ↑ deagel.com , accessed April 2, 2014
8. ↑ ^{a b} militaryrussia.ru , accessed April 2, 2014
9. ↑ vectorsite.net , accessed April 2, 2014