Kh-23 Grom

Maximum speed 2,160–2,700 km/h (1,340–1,680 mph)^[3]Kh-66 :Line-Of-Sight Beam riding
Kh-23 :Radio command guidance
Grom-B :TV guidanceYak-38,MiG-21PFM, MiG-23, MiG-27,
Su-17M3/20/22/22M3/M4,^[3]

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.

Development

Work on air-to-air missiles had started at the Kaliningrad Engineering Plant (then known as Plant #455, and later merged into Zvezda-Strela) in 1955.^[1] This had resulted in the Kaliningrad K-5 (AA-1 'Alkali') family of beam-guided missiles, including the K-51 (RS-2-US) carried by the Su-9 'Fishpot'. OKB-4 Molniya (later Vympel NPO) under Matus Bisnovat would go on to produce missiles such as the AA-6 Acrid.^[1] Meanwhile, in 1963 the RS-2-US was tested as an air-to-surface missile.^[1] It was concluded that the small warhead and inaccurate guidance made such an application "pointless".^[1]

However, in 1965 North Vietnam requested an air-to-surface missile from the Soviet government;^[1] the AGM-12 Bullpup had entered service with the US Air Force before the start of the Vietnam War. In April 1965 OKB-134 (later NPO Vympel) started work on this missile under the project name Kh-23, but they had problems developing a guidance system that would work with existing aircraft.^[3] As a result, Yurii N. Korolyov came up with his own proposals based on the earlier experiments with the RS-2-US. A design bureau to develop the RS-2-US for surface targets was set up under Korolyov by decree #100 of 12 March 1966 of the Ministry of the Aircraft Industry;^[1] this bureau would become the Zvezda OKB in 1976.^[4]

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).^[5] This had the big advantage of allowing the new weapon to be fitted to any aircraft capable of firing the K-5.^[3] Design began in 1966,^[4] so the project was known as Kh-66 or Izdeliye 66 ('Article 66'). The Kh-66 was a beam-riding weapon that was tested on a MiG-21PFM^[4] and 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. Flight testing of the Kh-66 began in 1967^[1] and it entered service on 20 June 1968.^[1]

Meanwhile, Korolyov took over work on the Kh-23 project intended for carriage on the Soviet Union's new MiG-23.^[3] The Kh-23 became a development of the Kh-66 design with an improved propellant and new Delta-R1M guidance system.^[3] 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,^[3] but significant delays were caused by problems with unreliable guidance which was eventually traced to the smoke generator which interfered with the antenna.^[3] Once the receiver had been moved to a tail extension,^[3] the government tested the missile on the MiG-23 and MiG-23B between 20 March 1970 and 3 October 1973.^[1] and it entered service in 1973.^[2] A laser-guided version of the Kh-23, the Kh-25, became the basis for the AS-10 'Karen' family of missiles.^[1] Technology from these was 'backported' to the Kh-23 to create the Kh-23M in 1974.^[2]

The Kh-23 was later licensed for local production in both Romania and Yugoslavia.^[3] In 1977 a dummy Kh-23 was fired from a Ka-252TB helicopter,^[1] the prototype of the Kamov Ka-29TB 'Helix-B' assault transport.

Design

The Kh-66 used the airframe of the Kaliningrad K-8 (AA-3 'Anab') air-to-air missile, with the nozzle split to make room for the antenna of the beam-riding guidance system of the Kaliningrad K-5 (AA-1 'Alkali').^[3] It has cruciform control fins on the nose, and four clipped-tip delta-wings at the rear with elevators for control.

Operational history

The Kh-66 entered production for the MiG-21 in 1968, and the Kh-23 was certified for the MiG-23 'Flogger' in 1973.

Variants

• Kh-66 - the original beam-riding missile based on the K-8
• Kh-23 (Izdeliye 68)^[4] - First command-guidance version with improved propellant
• Kh-23M - improved Kh-23 with technology from the Kh-25 family^[2]
• Kh-23L - Western name for a laser-guided version that in fact was the baseline Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen')^[4]
• A921 - Version made in Romania^[3]
• Grom (Grom 02) - Yugoslav version that appeared in the 1980s.^[6] This should not be confused with the Polish SAM
• Grom-B (Grom 2) - TV-guided version from Serbia's Vojno-Tehnički Institut in the mid-late 1990s; uses seeker based on that of the AGM-65B Maverick^[6]

Operators

•  North Korea ^{[citation needed]}
•  Syria^[7]

Former operators

•  Bulgaria^[3]
•  Cuba
•  India^[3]
•  Iraq^[3]
•  Libya^[8]
•  Poland^[3]
•  Romania (A921)^[3]
•  Serbia (Grom)^[3]
•  Soviet Union^[3] - passed on to successor states
•  Vietnam^{[citation needed]}

Similar weapons

• AGM-12 Bullpup
• AS-20 - French air-to-ground missile based on an early air-to-air missile

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} History of JSC Tactical Missile Corporation, pp. 3–4, archived from the original (Word 97 DOC) on 2011-07-27, retrieved 2009-02-15
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Russian Air-to-Ground Missile Update", Jane's Missiles and Rockets, 1998-02-01, retrieved 2009-02-18
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa} Friedman, Norman (1997), The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems, Naval Institute Press, p. 235, ISBN 978-1-55750-268-1
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Kh-23, Kh-66 Grom (AS-7 'Kerry')", Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, 2008-08-01^{[dead link]}
5. ^ FAS, Zvezda Kh-23 (AS-7 Kerry), retrieved 2007-04-15
6. ^ ^{a b} "Serbia and Montenegro develops 'smart' strike weapons", Jane's Missiles and Rockets, 2005-05-12, archived from the original on August 24, 2005, retrieved 2009-02-18
7. ^ Cooper 2018, p. 64
8. ^ Cooper 2018, p. 16

Radar
systems

Land-based	A-100 P-3 P-8 P-10 P-12 P-14 P-15 P-18 P-19 P-20 P-30 P-35 P-37 P-40 P-50 P-70 P-80 P-100 Kabina 66 Kasta 2E RSN-225 Azov SNR-75 1S91 30N6 36D6 64N6 76N6 96L6E 9S15 9S19 9S32 Duga Dnestr Dnepr Daryal Dunay Volga Don-2N Voronezh Container
Ship-borne
Airborne	N001 N002 N005 N006 N007 N008 N010 N011 N012 N014 N019 N025 N035 N036

Missiles

ICBM	BZhRK GR-1 R-7 R-9 R-16 R-26 R-36 R-36M R-46 RS-24 RS-26 RT-2 RT-2PM RT-2PM2 RT-20 RT-21 RT-23 RS-28 Sarmat UR-100 UR-100MR UR-100N UR-200
IRBM	R-14 RSD-10
MRBM	R-5 R-12 RT-15
SRBM	2K1 2K6 9K52 9K720 R-1 R-2 R-11 R-11A R-17 OTR-21 OTR-23 TR-1
SLBM	R-13 R-15 R-21 R-27 R-29 R-39 RSM-45 RSM-56
Surface-to-surface (cruise)	Burya RSS-40 3M-51 Alfa 3M-54 Kalibr 9M730 Burevestnik
Surface-to-surface (naval)	P-1 P-5 P-15 P-70 P-120 P-270 P-500 P-700 P-750 P-800 P-900 P-900A P-1000 RKV-500A RPK-2 RPK-6 RPK-7 URPK-3 URPK-4 URPK-5
Surface-to-air	2K11 Krug 2K12 Kub 2K22 Tunguska Kashtan CIWS 9K31 Strela-1 9K32 Strela-2 9K33 Osa 9K34 Strela-3 9K38 Igla/9K338 Igla-S 9K333 Verba 9K35 Strela-10 9K37 Buk 9K330 Tor Pantsir-S1 42S6 Morfey S-25 Berkut S-75 Dvina S-125 Neva/Pechora S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna S-300 S-350 (50R6) Vityaz S-400 Triumf S-500/55R6M Triumfator-M M-11 Shtorm Sosna-R
Air-to-surface	KSR-2 KSR-5 KS-1 K-10S Kh-11 Kh-15 Kh-20 Kh-22 Kh-23 Kh-25 Kh-26 Kh-28 Kh-29 Kh-31 Kh-35 Kh-38 Kh-41 Kh-55 Kh-58 Kh-59 Kh-80 Kh-90 9M114V Shturm-V Hermes-A Kh-47M2 Kinzhal
Air-to-air	K-5 R-3 R-4 R-8 R-23 R-27 R-33 R-37 R-38 R-40 R-60 R-73 R-77 R-172
Anti-tank	3M6 9K111 9K112 9K114 9K115 9K115-2 9K121 9M14 9M15 9M17 9M113 9M117 9M119 9M120 9M123 9M133 9M133M Kornet-M Kornet-D Hermes

Unguided
rockets

Air-launched	RP-1 RP-5 RP-6 RP-9 RP-15 RP-21 RS-82 RS-132
Rocket artillery	BM-14 BM-21 BM-24 BM-25 BM-27 BM-30 TOS-1

Engines