<type> Update </type>
<summary> NATO reporting names for Kh-101 and Kh-102 ALCM given as AS-23A Kodiak and AS-23B respectively </summary>
<detail> As stated it appears the Kh-101 has been designated AS-23A Kodiak and the Kh-102 (Nuclear) as AS-23B Kodiak.</detail>
<evidence>
Page.55 #389 August 2020 Airforces Monthly. Article Piotr Butowski. Russia's Strategic Warriors. Caption to photo includes the statement "Kh-101 cruise missiles loaded on a Tu-95MS..Known to NATO as the AS-23A Kodiak. (There is no further annotation of the source).
STATEMENT OF
GENERAL TERRENCE J. O’SHAUGHNESSY, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
COMMANDER UNITED STATES NORTHERN COMMAND AND NORTH AMERICAN AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND
BEFORE THE
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
13 FEBRUARY 2020
"The Russian air force modernized five BEAR H heavy bombers in 2019, according to the country’s Defense Minister, upgrading the aircraft’s communications and navigation systems and
enabling them to launch the new AS-23 cruise missile". (Given that this is the newer Bear H the reference is almost certainly to the Kh-101/102 in relation to the AS-23)
Also,
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R45861
Russia’s Nuclear Weapons:
Doctrine, Forces, and Modernization
R45861
July 20, 2020
Amy F. Woolf
Specialist in Nuclear
Weapons Policy
"Russia has recently modernized both of its bombers, fitting them with a new cruise missile
system, the conventional AS-23A (Kh-101) and the nuclear AS-23B (Kh-102)."
And
https://www.clingendael.org/publication ... n-conflict
"
How the Bear goes to war
To destroy targets located deep in Syria
it was necessary to involve Russia’s long-
range aviation in the war. Tu-95MS Bear
and Tu-160 Blackjack bombers were used
to launch cruise missiles at targets in the
Aleppo, Idlib and Raqqa provinces.10 Two
types of air-launched cruise missiles were
used in the strikes: firstly, the
Kh-555 (AS-22
Kluge), a conventionally-armed variant of
the Cold War-era nuclear Kh-55 (AS-15
Kent), with a maximum range of 2,000 km;
secondly, the more modern
Kh-101 (AS-23
Kodiak) a conventionally-armed variant
of the nuclear Kh-102, with a maximum
range of 4,000 km" </evidence>
Thanks and I am now trying to work out what the real NATO designation is for the KH-38 tactical missile,as the Db3k is already using AS-22!
K
