Russia confirms using Kh-32 cruise missiles to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure

Russian forces are now using Kh-32 missiles to carry out attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine. They have only deployed this type of missile once in the past.

Source: RIA Novosti, a pro-Kremlin Russian media outlet, quoting from a source; Defense Express, a media and consulting company partnering with Ukraine

Details: The source told RIA Novosti that the most recent attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure were undertaken with the use of long-range bombers armed with Kh-32 missiles, which the Russians call "aircraft-carrier killers".

Reference: Defense Express explains that the Kh-32 is a Russian supersonic air-to-surface cruise missile. It is a significantly improved version of the previous Kh-22 missile, developed by the Raduga design bureau, a Russian aerospace company.

The Kh-32 retains the Kh-22 case and dimensions. A new, more powerful engine, digital equipment, an interference-free radar inertial guidance system and electronic countermeasures have been installed. The seeker head of this missile has been improved to capture targets 200-300 kilometres away (if launched farther away from the target, an external targeting device has to be used to indicate the target area before it can be captured by the missile’s seeker head).

Before the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, Russia claimed that at least 30 Kh-22 missiles would be converted into Kh-32s. It is unclear whether it was able to do so.

Kh-32 missiles are supposed to be carried by Tu-22M3M medium-range bombers. Before the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, Russia said it would upgrade 30 Tu-22M3 bombers to Tu-22M3M, but so far only four aircraft have undergone the necessary modifications.

Russian forces had only deployed Kh-32 missiles once before, in the attack on Kramatorsk on 6 May 2022. It is likely that Russia tested the missiles for the first time during that attack.

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