Soviet short-range strike missile with a 320 kg warhead built to crack hardened targets
Kh-29TE Air-to-Surface Missile — Export Presentation (Rosoboronexport)
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Entity 'Kh-29' mentioned in report
The Kh-29, NATO reporting name AS-14 Kedge, is a heavy short-range air-to-surface missile for attacking hardened ground targets, infrastructure, and some naval targets. It sits between light precision weapons and larger stand-off missiles, emphasizing warhead effect over long range.
Kh-29 variants use guidance such as laser homing or television/electro-optical control to deliver a heavy warhead against point targets. The missile can be effective against bunkers, bridges, runways, ships, and reinforced positions, but its limited range requires the launch aircraft to approach closer than with modern long-range stand-off weapons.
Kh-29's combat tradeoff is straightforward: it offers strong terminal effect but exposes the aircraft to air defenses because of its range and guidance requirements. It is more suitable when air defenses are suppressed, target coordinates are well understood, and the launch aircraft can safely designate or maintain the needed attack geometry.
Headline figures are open-source estimates unless stated; Russian and Ukrainian sources differ slightly on range and warhead mass.
Publicly reported milestones from Soviet fielding to current use on both sides of the war in Ukraine.
Work on a heavy laser- and TV-guided tactical missile matures at Vympel NPO, reusing airframe and solid-motor solutions derived from Soviet air-to-air missile practice.
The semi-active laser Kh-29L and TV-guided Kh-29T are accepted for service, initially cleared on Su-17M-series, Su-24M and MiG-27 strike aircraft.
The missile is exported alongside Su-22 and Su-24 packages to Warsaw Pact and Middle Eastern customers, establishing a wide legacy user base.
An extended-range TV-guided variant with roughly 690 kg launch weight and reported reach up to 30 km is marketed with Su-30MK-family aircraft.
Russian state media show Kh-29L employment by Su-24M and Su-34 aircraft against fixed targets in Syria (reported, not independently confirmed).
Ukraine's State Research Institute for Testing and Certification of Weapons conducts Kh-29L/Kh-29T launches from Su-24M of the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade — the first such firings in some 23 years.
Flight-design trials of the upgraded MiG-29MU2 include Kh-29T launches at the Povursk range, adding a heavy guided air-to-ground round to Ukraine's fighter fleet.
Western analysis notes Kh-25M and Kh-29 rounds have scarcely been seen in Russian use over Ukraine, with tactical aviation favouring the newer Kh-38M and glide-bomb kits that permit longer standoff.
The Kh-29 occupies a narrow niche: it trades standoff distance for destructive effect. Its 317-320 kg penetrating warhead is more than twice that of a heavyweight AGM-65 Maverick, letting one round defeat reinforced shelters, bridge spans and hardened command posts that lighter precision weapons cannot break. The price is exposure — the laser and baseline TV versions must be released inside roughly 8-13 km, well within the engagement envelopes of modern short-range air defences, and TV guidance degrades in poor visibility because the pilot must lock the target before launch.
That trade-off has shaped its record in the war in Ukraine. Both air forces inherited Soviet stocks, but Western analysis indicates Russian tactical aviation has employed the Kh-29 only sparingly, favouring the longer-ranged Kh-38M and, from 2023, glide-bomb kits that keep aircraft farther from Ukrainian SAM belts. Ukraine, working with a smaller and far less replaceable inventory, went the other way: state test-institute programmes revived Kh-29L/T firings from the Su-24M in 2019 and cleared the Kh-29T on the upgraded MiG-29MU2 in 2020, extending the useful life of legacy rounds on the airframes actually available.
Export relevance now rests mainly on the extended-range Kh-29TE, marketed with Su-30MK-family aircraft to operators reported to include India, Algeria, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Even in that market the missile reads as a legacy item: air forces buying survivable strike capability increasingly prefer satellite- and inertially-guided glide munitions or longer-range standoff missiles. The Kh-29's continued value is therefore narrow but real — a comparatively cheap way to put a very heavy penetrating warhead precisely onto a target that lighter weapons would only scratch.
Ukrainian MiG-29MU2 Test-Launches Kh-29T Missiles (Immersion Zone)
Watch on YouTubeIndonesian Air Force Su-30MK2 Fires Kh-29TE for the First Time (Chingis Dambiev)
Watch on YouTubeSu-34 Carrying FAB-250 Bombs and Kh-29TE Missiles (Bilibili)
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