# Kh-55 (Х-55)
**Kh-55** (Х-55; NATO reporting name AS-15 "Kent") is a Soviet-designed, subsonic, air-launched cruise missile developed beginning in 1971 as a strategic system able to deliver a nuclear warhead to a range of 2,500 km.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) It entered service in 1984 on Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers, spawned the longer-range Kh-55SM and the conventional Kh-555, and has been replaced in frontline Russian production by the stealthier Kh-101 and its nuclear variant, the Kh-102.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) • [2](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-101-kh-102/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designation | Kh-55 (Х-55), NATO AS-15 "Kent"; alternate names RKV-500, X-65C3[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
| Class and basing | Subsonic, air-launched cruise missile with a turbofan engine[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
| Dimensions | Length 6.04 m, body diameter 0.514 m, launch weight 1,210 kg[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
| Warhead and range | Single 410 kg nuclear warhead of 200 to 250 kT; maximum range 2,500 km[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
| Guidance | Inertial navigation with TERCOM (terrain contour matching); accuracy 25 m CEP[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
| Service entry | In service since 1984; first test launches from a Tu-95 bomber in 1978[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) • [3](https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/book/mit017/mit017.pdf) |
| Main variants | Kh-55SM (range 3,000 km), Kh-555 (conventional, range 3,500 km), Kh-65SE (export)[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) |
## Development and entry into service
The Soviet Union began developing the Kh-55 in 1971 as a strategic air-launched cruise missile. The first test launches from a Tu-95 bomber took place in 1978, and in 1979 the Soviet Union started production of the Tu-95MS bomber, which could carry six cruise missiles; a later version of the Tu-95MS, still in service, can carry up to 16.[3](https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/book/mit017/mit017.pdf) Deployment of the Kh-55 on the Tu-95MS (Bear H) and Tu-160 ([Blackjack](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackjack)) bombers was one of the modernization programs the Soviet Union carried over from the late 1970s into the 1980s.[3](https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/book/mit017/mit017.pdf)
The missile's cylindrical fuselage closely resembles the U.S. Tomahawk, and the two have almost identical body diameters. The Kh-55 is guided by inertial navigation together with TERCOM, a terrain contour matching system that compares measured terrain profiles with stored maps, giving an accuracy of 25 m circular error probable.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/)
## Variants
**Kh-55SM.** The extended-range version mounts conformal fuel tanks on both sides of the fuselage and uses a more powerful engine producing 450 kg of thrust. The tanks enlarge the body diameter to 0.77 m, raise launch weight to 1,500 kg, and extend the range to 3,000 km.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/)
**Kh-555.** The Kh-555 is a conventional variant of the Kh-55SM in which the nuclear warhead is replaced by a 400 kg unitary high-explosive, penetration, or submunitions warhead. It carries larger conformal fuel tanks than the Kh-55SM, has a reduced radar cross-section and improved accuracy, and reaches a range of 3,500 km. First test launches were variously reported in October 1999 or January 2000.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) • [4](https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/heavy-bomber-force-overview/)
**Kh-65SE and Kh-SD.** A conventional export version, the Kh-65SE, was offered but did not enter Russian service. A medium-range conventional missile with the provisional designations "izdeliye 244" and Kh-SD, incorporating subcomponents of the Kh-101 including its guidance system, was under development primarily for the Tu-22M5.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) • [4](https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/heavy-bomber-force-overview/)
## Carriers and force size
The Kh-55 family can be carried by the Tu-95MS6 (Bear H6), the Tu-142M (Bear F), the Tu-95MS16 (Bear H16), and the Tu-160 (Blackjack). Reports cited by CSIS suggest Russian forces operate 13 Tu-160s able to carry 12 Kh-55SM or Kh-555 missiles each, 32 Tu-95MS6 carrying six Kh-55 or Kh-555 each, and 31 Tu-95MS16 carrying 16 Kh-55 each, though some aircraft may not be operational.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/) In 2006 it was suggested that Russia had 872 operational Kh-55 missiles, with a long-term goal of 500 nuclear-armed missiles.[1](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/)
## The Ukrainian inheritance and 1999 transfer
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited part of the Kh-55 force along with the bombers that carried it. Under an agreement between the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers and the Russian government, signed at Yalta on 8 October 1999, Ukraine transferred Tu-160 and Tu-95MS heavy bombers and long-range air-launched cruise missiles to Russia in exchange for repayment of debts for Russian gas.[5](https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2032-99-%D0%BF?lang=en) Investigative reporting by the Ukrainian program Skhemy put the missile total at 575 Kh-55 and Kh-55SM missiles.[6](https://nv.ua/ukr/amp/viyna-v-ukrajini-shcho-govoryat-eksministri-yaki-pogodili-peredachu-rosiji-raket-h-55-u-1999-roci-50344352.html) The Arms Control Association reports that Ukraine agreed in 1999 to send a portion of its Kh-55 missiles to Russia, eventually transferring 582, and had destroyed an additional 483 as of May 2001 with U.S. assistance.[7](https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2005-05/ukraine-admits-missile-transfers)
**Proliferation case.** In 2005 Ukrainian officials acknowledged that 12 nuclear-capable Kh-55 missiles had been transferred illegally to Iran and China, six to China in early 2000 and six to Iran in May and June 2001; the missiles were not exported with nuclear warheads. Ukrainian prosecutors described the transaction as the work of an international criminal group, and the exports contravened Ukraine's commitments under the [Missile Technology Control Regime](https://www.edgepedia.org/missile-technology-control-regime).[7](https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2005-05/ukraine-admits-missile-transfers)
## Combat use and replacement
The Kh-101 and thermonuclear Kh-102 were developed as long-range standoff cruise missiles to replace the aging Kh-55 and Kh-555; Soviet engineers began designing them in the late 1980s, full-scale development likely began in 1995, and the Kh-101 entered service in 2012.[2](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-101-kh-102/)
The older missiles nevertheless returned to combat use. In the war against Ukraine, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russia used Kh-55 missiles, which were designed to carry nuclear warheads, with dummy warheads to distract Ukraine's air defenses.[8](https://apnews.com/article/2488a54e18d5dde376c5c5ab0cc3b92b) Ukraine assessed that Russia fired over 600 Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles combined since the war began, a total that may include disarmed Kh-55 missiles in which the nuclear warhead was removed and replaced with ballast, a practice that could stretch a dwindling supply of precision-guided missiles and divert fire from air defense systems.[9](https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-05/230505_Williams_Putin_Missile.pdf?VersionId=0rahER.P81oo5ispb8.UGcT_90DmLoSb) Skhemy's investigation identified at least 12 missiles from the 1999 transfer list among those fired at Ukrainian cities, matching serial numbers on wreckage with the list.[6](https://nv.ua/ukr/amp/viyna-v-ukrajini-shcho-govoryat-eksministri-yaki-pogodili-peredachu-rosiji-raket-h-55-u-1999-roci-50344352.html)
## References
1. [Kh-55 (AS-15), Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-55/)
2. [Kh-101 / Kh-102, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kh-101-kh-102/)
3. [Pavel Podvig (ed.), Soviet and Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, MIT Press](https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/book/mit017/mit017.pdf)
4. [Russian Heavy Bomber Force Overview, Nuclear Threat Initiative](https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/heavy-bomber-force-overview/)
5. [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 2032 of 2 November 1999, Legislation of Ukraine database](https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2032-99-%D0%BF?lang=en)
6. [Війна в Україні: що говорять ексміністри, які погодили передачу Росії ракет Х-55 у 1999 році, NV](https://nv.ua/ukr/amp/viyna-v-ukrajini-shcho-govoryat-eksministri-yaki-pogodili-peredachu-rosiji-raket-h-55-u-1999-roci-50344352.html)
7. [Ukraine Admits Missile Transfers, Arms Control Today (May 2005)](https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2005-05/ukraine-admits-missile-transfers)
8. [Ukrainian presidency: 10 killed in latest Russian shelling, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/2488a54e18d5dde376c5c5ab0cc3b92b)
9. [Ian Williams, Putin's Missile Arsenal: How Russia Is Degrading and Expending Its Precision Strike Capability, CSIS (May 2023)](https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-05/230505_Williams_Putin_Missile.pdf?VersionId=0rahER.P81oo5ispb8.UGcT_90DmLoSb)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Missiles and rocketry › Cruise and hypersonic missiles*
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