Kh-28

Kh-28, NATO AS-9 Kyle, was one of the early Soviet anti-radiation missile efforts for tactical aircraft. Public references place it before later, more practical anti-radiation weapons. Because direct open-source detail is thinner than for later systems, this page should describe it conservatively as an early ARM development step rather than overstate performance.

Compared with later compact ARMs, early systems such as Kh-28 were constrained by seeker technology, size, handling, and the need to match threat radar bands. The design goal was clear: give strike aircraft a way to attack radar-guided air-defense systems. The tradeoffs were complexity, limited flexibility, and aircraft integration burden.

The missile helped establish the anti-radiation mission inside Soviet tactical aviation. Later systems were more flexible and easier to employ, but Kh-28 belongs in the lineage that made suppression of enemy air defenses a specialized weapon category. Content should frame it as legacy equipment with doctrinal importance.