‘Non-classical’ Su-57s are using Soviet-made Kh-59M ASM in Ukraine
WARSAW, ($1=4.26 Polish Zlotys) — The military aviation of the Russian Federation uses fifth-generation Su-57 fighters during the combat operation in the war in Ukraine, BulgarianMilitary.com has learned, citing Defense24. According to Polish analysts, the Russian Su-57s have been armed with Kh-59 missiles, which have been in service for decades and are compatible with these fighters despite their advanced age.
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Portal Defense Express was the first to announce the combat flights of the Russian Su-57 fighters. During the war, which lasted almost two months, the planes attacked targets in the Kirovograd region and Odessa on April 8. Crisis response services, as well as regional and city authorities, did not register any casualties after the attack.
Few days earlier on 4 April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, photographic evidence was published on Telegram channels that a Kh-59M missile was launched by the Russian Air Force at a grain silo near Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The missile was captured on CCTV as it was traveling to the target area.
The Su-57s involved in the attack came from the airbase, which is also an experimental center [929th State Aviation and Test Center of VP Chkalov] in Akhtubinsk, a city about 100 kilometers east of Volgograd. This would mean that the Russian Air Force has used machines that are not equipped with a “classic” unit, still experimental and at the level of a research center, which may show a completely different assessment of the still prototype Su-57.
Kh-59 air-to-ground missiles, developed during the Soviet era, were used as weapons to attack Ukrainian targets. This missile can also be classified as an anti-ship missile.
According to Defense24, these were the first combat flights of these fighters since their debut in the Syrian Arab Republic in February 2018 [which according to the Russian Ministry of Defense was related to the 100th anniversary of the Red Workers ‘and Peasants’ Army and also the Day of the defender of the Fatherland]. According to information revealed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, then one plane was used to dismantle the unknown object, which attacked the target with missiles of an undisclosed type. The machines were then state-tested and completed later that year.
The Kh-59 is a Soviet cruise missile developed by the Rainbow Engineering Bureau in the late 1970s and 1980s. It is powered by solid fuel and, depending on the option, allows you to hit a target at a distance of up to 300 kilometers, reaching a speed of about 1000 km / h.
There are several different versions, with different guidance systems [laser or TV-guided] and a warhead [weighing about 300 kg with a mass of the entire missile of about 900 kg]. Kh-59 is used by many air forces of countries that maintain military cooperation with the Russian armed forces, including the aviation of Venezuela, China and Algeria.
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