Kh-28

Kh-28 (NATO reporting name: AS-9 'Kyle')
USAF EOD specialist disassembles presumed Kh-28 – Iraq 1991
Type	air-launched anti-radiation missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1973–current
Used by	FSU, Warsaw Pact, India, Iraq, Vietnam
Production history
Designer	Alexander Yakovlevich Bereznyak
Manufacturer	MKB Raduga
Specifications
Weight	720 kg (1,590 lb)
Length	597 cm (19 ft 7 in)
Diameter	43 cm (16.9 in)
Warhead	Blast fragmentation
Warhead weight	160 kg (353 lb)
Engine	Two-stage liquid-fuel rocket
Wingspan	193 cm (6 ft 4.0 in)
Operational range	110 km (59 nmi)
Speed	Mach 3.0
Guidance system	Inertial guidance with passive radar seeker
Launch platform	Su-17M/Su-20/Su-22M, Su-24M, Tu-16, MiG-25BM, MiG-27, Tu-22M

The Kh-28 (Russian: Х-28; Nisan-28; NATO:AS-9 'Kyle') was the first Soviet anti-radiation missile for tactical aircraft. It entered production in 1973 and is still carried on some Sukhoi Su-22s in developing countries but is no longer in Russian service. Use of the Kh-28 was restricted by its weight, limited seeker head, bulk and fuelling requirements, and it was superseded by the smaller, solid-fuel Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') in the early 1980s.

Soviet offensive doctrine in the early 1960s assumed that widespread use of nuclear weapons would disable Western radar-based air defence systems through electromagnetic pulses (EMP) effects. Consequently, they paid little attention to the development of anti-radar missiles. However, in January 1963 the Berezniak design bureau (which became MKB Raduga in 1967) was tasked with developing such a missile as part of the K-28P weapon complex based around a 'Wild Weasel' version of the Yak-28 'Brewer' bomber (hence -28; the 'K' stands for kompleks, P stands for protivradiolokatsyonny 'anti-radar').

The main difficulty came in the design of the APR-28 guidance system undertaken by CKB-111 (later NPO Avtomatika). This meant that the Kh-28 missile was not ready until the 1970s. Flight trials were carried out on a Yak-28N, but by then the Yak-28 had ceased production and was perceived as obsolete, and the K-28P system was cancelled. Instead the Kh-28 was adapted for use by standard attack aircraft, in particular the Su-24 'Fencer-A' and Su-17M 'Fitter-C'.

The design of the Kh-28 was similar to – but smaller than – Raduga's Kh-22 (AS-4 'Kitchen') and KSR-5 (AS-6 'Kingfish') anti-shipping missiles. The Su-24 could carry one under each wing, and used the on-board Filin ('Eagle Owl') targeting system. The Su-17M could only carry one Kh-28 on the centreline, and used the Myetyel/Metel ('Blizzard') system in a pod under the right wing, later replaced by the Vyuga ('Snowstorm') pod.