Kh-80


The Kh-80 Meteorit-A, the RK-75 Meteorit-N '' and the P-750 Meteorit-M was a Soviet cruise missile which was supposed to replace subsonic intermediate range missiles in Soviet inventory. The missile was an ambitious project since the target was to ultimately develop it into hypersonic missile.
Development of three variants of this cruise missile was authorized on 9 December 1976. The Meteorit-M strategic version would be deployed from Project 667M submarines with 12 launchers per boat. The air-launched Meteorit-A would be launched from Tu-95 bombers. The land-based version was designated Meteorit-N. The missile was also sometimes referred to by the code-name Grom. The first test launch, on 20 May 1980, was unsuccessful, as were the next three attempts. The first successful flight did not come until 16 December 1981. The first launch from a 667M Andromeda submarine took place on 26 December 1983 from the Barents Sea.
The missile was designed by Chelomei at NPO Mashinostroeniye and designated the SSC-X-5 GLCM by the US Department of Defense. The turbojet-powered missile would cruise at Mach 2.5 to 3.0 at 20 km altitude over its 3,000 km range. It was equipped with a 1 Mt thermonuclear warhead and used inertial navigation with mid-course update via data link.
Manufacturer: Chelomei. Maximum range: to 5,000 km.

Variants