Kh-22 / AS-4 “KITCHEN”

On the Soviet Aviation’s Day of 1961, a new missile could be observed under the belly of a dozen TU-22 Blinder bombers and that caused some excitement in the West. It was the Kh-22 anti-ship missile, designated by NATO as AS-4 Kitchen. This missile was developed to attack the American naval groups at sufficient distance to avoid the naval fighter’s interception, that is, a “stand-off” type weapon. The missile uses a Tumanski liquid-fuel rocket engine fueled with “Tonka 250” and “IRFNA” propellants which speeds the missile up to Mach 4.6. The AS-4 Kitchen can carry two different types of warheads. One of them is a 1,000 kg conventional shaped charge, designated as Kh-22, and the other is a nuclear type with a 350kt or 1Mt yield, and designated as Kh-22N. This missile has an inertial guidance system for the flight, and a terminal radar homing guide in the final approach before reach the target. With a range of 592km it is considered as an air launch cruise missile (ALCM), and it is carried by the TU-22M Backfire, TU-22K Blinder and TU-95K Bear.G strategic bombers. This missile still in service with the Russian Air Force and was used by Iraq and Ukraine.

Kh-22 / AS-4 KITCHEN gallery and more info