British intelligence: Russian VKS equipped X-101 missiles with a second warhead
The second warhead is designed for increased fragmentation of the target
British military intelligence reports that the Russian Aerospace Forces have begun fitting a second warhead to the X-101 (AS-23 KODIAK in NATO classification) air-launched main missile.
Source. This is reported in a report by the British Ministry of Defence on its Twitter page.
According to intelligence, the Russian Long-Range Aviation Command tried to modify its systems during the war against Ukraine for three reasons:
To increase their survivability, as Ukrainian air defences were intercepting too many missiles;
To increase their effectiveness;
And to be able to use older missiles, as more modern weapons were used at the beginning of the conflict.
According to British intelligence, the new missile modification "probably halved the range of the missiles".
However, Russian long-range aviation does not need to use the full range of its missiles to hit targets throughout Ukraine, the intelligence service said.
The post states that "the second warhead is designed for increased fragmentation of the target", which will make it more effective for strikes on unfortified objects.
Background. As a reminder, on 19 April, Ukrainian air defence forces shot down X-22 supersonic missiles and a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber for the first time.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
