Kh-59

The precision half of Russia's air-launched arsenal. Where a Kh-22 lands within a few hundred metres of where it was aimed, the improved Kh-59 is credited with single-digit metres — and unlike the drones that dominate the nightly tallies, it arrives one or two at a time against targets someone chose carefully.

Overview

The Kh-59 "Ovod" (Gadfly), designated AS-13 Kingbolt by NATO, is a Soviet-designed air-launched standoff missile that has been progressively stretched from a 40 km television-guided weapon into a family reaching close to 290 km. It is subsonic, turbojet-powered after a solid-rocket boost, and flies low — down to about 50 m in the latest variants — which is what makes it survivable rather than speed.

It sits at the opposite end of the Russian inventory from the Kh-22. Where the Kh-22 delivers nearly a tonne of explosive somewhere in the vicinity, the Kh-59 family is credited with a circular error probable of a few metres (2–3 m for the TV-guided versions, 3–5 m for the Kh-59MK2) and the MK2 carries a 310–320 kg warhead. Ukrainian Air Force reporting routinely groups it with its newer, low-observable derivative as "Kh-59/69," and the pairing appears in daily strike tallies alongside Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles — usually in ones and twos rather than the dozens that characterise drone waves.

🔒 The full Kh-59 file is for BattlePolicy Pro members. Below the line: development history, design and capabilities, variants, the combat record, advantages and limitations, comparable systems, outlook, the full specifications table, our sourcing, and the analyst assessment — procurement, suppliers and the BattlePolicy verdict. Unlock the full file with BattlePolicy Pro →