Kh-22

The Kh-22 is a heavy, long-range, supersonic air-launched cruise missile that the Soviet Union built chiefly to sink aircraft carriers, known to NATO as the AS-4 Kitchen. Work on it began in 1958 under a decree of the Council of Ministers, with development entrusted to the Dubna branch of OKB-155 and the Raduga design group, and the first regular test launch took place on 2 November 1963. Repeated equipment failures delayed testing for years, and the first version was adopted in 1967. It became the main weapon of the Tu-22 and later the Tu-22M bombers, and it could also be carried by converted Tu-95K-22 aircraft. The family had several variants: the Kh-22N with a nuclear warhead and inertial guidance, the Kh-22M with a conventional warhead and active radar homing for use against ships, and the Kh-22MP for penetrating air defences. Its warhead was meant to be large enough to cripple a major ship with a single hit. At least a thousand missiles of all versions were reportedly built, and the Kh-32 was later developed from it. Production totals are given by the source as indicative figures only.