Missile Kh-23 & Kh-66 (AS-7 Kerry)

The Kh-66 and Kh-23, designated by NATO as the AS-7 ‘Kerry’, are a family of Soviet tactical air-to-surface missiles. Development of the Kh-66 was initiated in 1965 following a request from North Vietnam for a tactical missile comparable to the American AGM-12 Bullpup. It was designed as an interim solution using the airframe of the K-8 air-to-air missile and the guidance system of the K-5. The Kh-66 entered service in 1968. The Kh-23 was developed subsequently to provide improved guidance and entered service in 1973.

The Kh-66 utilizes line-of-sight beam-riding guidance. The airframe features cruciform control fins on the nose and four clipped-tip delta-wings at the rear. Because it is a beam-riding weapon, the launch aircraft must maintain a dive toward the target to stay within the radar beam of the RP-21M radar. The Kh-23 is a radio-command guidance missile using the Delta-R1M system, which allows the pilot to fire the weapon during level flight. The Kh-23 features an improved propellant over the Kh-66. The Kh-23M variant, introduced in 1974, integrated technology from the Kh-25 missile family. The Serbian Grom-B variant employs TV guidance using a seeker based on the AGM-65B Maverick. The missiles are equipped with a 111 kg warhead, an increase over the 13 kg warhead used in the original air-to-air missile designs.

The Kh-66 was initially deployed on the MiG-21PFM. The Kh-23 was certified for the MiG-23 and was also carried by the MiG-27, Su-17, and Yak-38. The missile system was widely exported to Warsaw Pact members and other nations, including Algeria, Iraq, India, Libya, and Syria. It was licensed for local production in Romania as the A921 and in Yugoslavia as the Grom. North Korea remains a current operator of the system. The Kh-66 was rushed into service for use in the Vietnam War. During the development of the Kh-23, delays occurred due to unreliable guidance caused by interference from the smoke generator, which required relocating the receiver to a tail extension. In 1977, the missile was also tested for use on the Ka-252TB helicopter.

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