The Raduga K-10S (

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: AS-2 Kipper) was a Soviet

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

anti-ship missile that was usually nuclear-armed, designed by

MKB Raduga MKB Raduga (russian: МКБ Радуга, meaning Raduga Design Bureau (russian: машиностроительное конструкторское бюро «Радуга»), where ''raduga'' literally means "rainbow") is a Russian aerospac ...

. Its development began in 1955, and it entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1961. The Kipper missile was a very large one, approximately the size of a small jet fighter, because of the rather primitive state of anti-ship missile technology in the 1950s and 1960s. This missile was never used in combat anywhere. The typical AS-2 launch platform, the Tupolev Tu-16K-10 ''Badger C'', could carry a single AS-2, semi-recessed in the bomb bay. The Kipper's long range enabled it to be launched, hypothetically, from beyond the range of any shipboard

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s or anti-aircraft guns of that time. The only defense against the Kipper was the naval jet

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, operating from either an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

or a shore airfield. In flight tests, the Kipper cruised on its approach to a target at an altitude of about 10,000 meters, using inertial guidance until it reaches a range of about 100 to 110 kilometers from the target, where it enters a shallow 15 degree dive, commanded by a mid-course update via radio link. When it reaches a range of 60 to 70 kilometers it levels out at an altitude of between 800 and 1,000 meters where it cruises until it reaches a range of 10 to 16 kilometers, when the missile's

active radar homing Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target aut ...

guidance is engaged. It then enters a dive, striking the target vessel close to or below the waterline.

Variants

* K-10S * P-40 naval - SSM GLCM variant

Specifications

* Length: 9.75 m * Wing span: 4.18 m * Diameter: 1 m * Launch weight: 4,533 kg * Warhead weight: 1000kg SAP or 350 kt nuclear * Range: 110 km to 325 km * Launch altitude: 1,500 to 11,000 m * Cruise speed: * Engine: Alexander Mikulin M-9FK

References

* {{Russian and Soviet Aircraft Ordnance Cold War anti-ship missiles of the Soviet Union Nuclear air-to-surface missiles Nuclear cruise missiles of the Soviet Union K-010S K-010S MKB Raduga products Military equipment introduced in the 1960s