Operational History
The original Kh-55 entered service in 1984. The Kh-55SM followed in 1987. The conventionally armed Kh-55SE was flight tested on 13 January 2000, and first used in exercises over the Black Sea 17–22 April 2000. The Kh-555 is thought to have entered service in 2004, the first pictures of the Kh-101 appeared in 2007.
The Kh-55 can be carried by the Tupolev Tu-95MS ('Bear-H') and Tu-142M ('Bear-F'), and the Kh-55SM is carried by the Tupolev Tu-160 ('Blackjack'). Sixteen Kh-55's can be carried by the Tu-95MS16 (Tu-95MSM) variant, ten on underwing pylons and six on a MKU-5-6 rotary launcher.
The Kh-55 was also tested on the Tu-22M ('Backfire'). The Kh-SD tactical version was to have been carried by the Tu-95MS (fourteen missiles) and the Tu-22M (eight missiles); the Kh-101 is expected to be carried by the Tu-160 (twelve missiles), Tu-95MS16 (eight missiles), Tu-22M3/5 (four missiles) and Su-32 (two missiles).
The end of the Cold War left Ukraine with 1,612 Kh-55's, part of the armament of the 19 Tu-160's of the 184th Heavy Bomber Regiment at Priluki and the 25 Tu-95MS of the 182nd Heavy Bomber Regiment at Uzin-Shepelovka. It was reported that Ukraine demanded US$3bn for the return of the planes and their missiles to Russia. In October 1999 a compromise was reached that saw Russia pay US$285m for 11 aircraft and 575 missiles, whilst the rest were meant to be destroyed under a US-funded disarmament programme. However, in March 2005 Ukraine's prosecutor-general Svyatoslav Piskun said that in 2001, 12 Kh-55's had been exported to Iran in a deal allegedly worth US$49.5 million and six to China. It has also been reported that Iran has started producing the missiles locally and is working on a longer range version.
Read more about this topic: Kh-55 (missile Family)
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