Drafted — not technically validated
Record revision 1 · A Mach 3.5 Soviet missile in anti-radiation and anti-ship versions.
Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.
Kh-31 (AS-17 Krypton) · Kh-31 / AS-17
- Type
- Supersonic anti-radiation (Kh-31P) and anti-ship (Kh-31A) missile [1]
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- In service
- 1988 [1]
- Weight
- 600 kg (1,323 lb) Kh-31P; 610 kg (1,345 lb) Kh-31A [1]
- Dimensions
- Length 4.7 m (15.4 ft), 5.3 m on the later AD/PD; diameter 360 mm (14 in); wingspan 914 mm [1]
- Warhead or payload
- 87 kg (192 lb) Kh-31P; 94 kg (207 lb) armour-piercing Kh-31A [1]
- Guidance
- Inertial, then passive radar homing (Kh-31P) or active radar homing (Kh-31A) [1]
- Fuzing
- Impact [1]
- Delivery
- Flies at up to Mach 3.5; the first supersonic anti-ship missile a tactical aircraft could launch [1]
- Range
- Up to 110 km (59 NM) Kh-31P; 7.5–70 km (4–38 NM) Kh-31A [1]
- Carried by
- MiG-29M and MiG-29K, Su-24M, Su-27SM, Su-30MKI, Su-34, Su-35 [1]
- Su-25Su-25 Frogfoot AircraftAn armoured Soviet close air support jet; the Su-25T adds Vikhr anti-tank missiles. [1]; Kh-31A only: Su-33Su-33 Flanker-D AircraftThe carrier-based Flanker: canards, folding wings and a ski-jump launch from Admiral Kuznetsov. [1]
Fast enough to survive
As surface-to-air missiles spread, suppression of enemy air defencesSEAD GlossaryJoint terms: Suppression of enemy air defenses. Activity that neutralizes, destroys, or temporarily degrades surface-based enemy air defenses by destructive and/or disruptive means. became a priority, and anti-radiation missiles needed enough range to keep the launch aircraft outside the SAMs, enough speed to avoid being shot down, and a seeker that could find many kinds of radar. [1] The Zvezda bureau, which had built the anti-radar Kh-25MPKh-25 OrdnanceA light Soviet tactical missile whose laser, radar-homing or radio seekers swap on one body., started work on a long-range ARM; the Kh-31 was first launched in 1982 and entered service in 1988. [1] It reaches Mach 3.5. [1]
Two jobs
The Kh-31 is best known as an anti-radiation missile, the Kh-31P, but the Kh-31A is an anti-ship missile, and it was the first supersonic anti-ship missile that tactical aircraft could launch. [1] It has been fired in anger since the Iran–Iraq War, when Iraqi forces used Kh-31Ps with Kh-58UsKh-58 OrdnanceThe Su-24M's anti-radiation missile, first fired in combat by Iraq in 1987. against Iranian early-warning radars in July 1988. [2]
Sources
- Kh-31. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-31 (accessed 2026-10-27).
- Kh-58. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-58 (accessed 2026-10-27).
Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.