The Kh-22, NATO reporting name AS-4 Kitchen, is a large Soviet air-launched cruise missile designed by Raduga for attacks on carrier groups, radar-contrast surface targets, and major fixed targets. Its liquid-propellant rocket motor, supersonic flight profile, and roughly one-ton conventional or nuclear warhead made it a heavy standoff weapon for Tu-22, Tu-22M, and modified Tu-95K-22 bomber variants. Russia has repurposed Kh-22-family missiles for land attack in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, where the missile's naval-targeting heritage, large warhead, and high terminal speed have produced severe urban-strike risks and a difficult air-defense problem.
Russian Tu-22M3 bombers have launched Kh-22-family missiles against Ukraine in repeated long-range strikes. Direct reporting links Kh-22 missiles to the June 2022 Kremenchuk shopping-center attack, the January 2023 Dnipro apartment-block strike, and later Kh-22/Kh-32 salvos; Ukrainian reporting also emphasizes the missile family's heavy warhead, poor suitability for precise land attack, and low interception rate before newer air-defense coverage expanded.
Role detailsKh-22 was designed around heavy bomber carriage and large radar-contrast targets, then reused by Russia for land attack in Ukraine. That shift makes several source-backed traits especially important for readers comparing it with newer precision cruise missiles.
| Aspect | Sourced context | Operational implication |
|---|---|---|
| Original target set | Rosoboronexport describes Kh-22E as a long-range missile for radar-contrast mobile and stationary targets, and Missilery.info describes anti-ship and surface-target branches. | The missile's design logic fits ships and large targets better than precise urban land attack. |
| Guidance split | FAS and Missilery.info distinguish active-radar, passive-radar, and inertial or autonomous versions. | Public strike reporting may identify the Kh-22 family without always resolving the exact seeker package. |
| Urban-strike hazard | Ukrinform cited the Ukrainian Air Force commander saying long-range use can produce errors of hundreds of meters, while HRW documented severe civilian harm after the Kremenchuk Kh-22 strike. | A heavy warhead plus wide miss distance creates high civilian-risk effects when fired at or near populated places. |
| Air-defense challenge | Ukrainska Pravda reported Ukrainian figures of 362 Kh-22/Kh-32 launches and two downed by August 2024, before later reporting noted larger Kh-22/Kh-32 salvos with more intercepts. | The family remained difficult to defeat, but later interception reports should be read against changing Ukrainian air-defense capacity. |
Source labels: Rosoboronexport Aerospace Systems Catalogue 2003; X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex); Raduga Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen); Air Force Commander on Dnipro Kh-22 Strike; Ukraine: Russian Missile Kills Civilians in Shopping Center; Ukrainska Pravda Kh-22/Kh-32 Missile Totals; Ukrinform Jan. 24, 2026 Air Attack Report.
Kh-22 is a family page, so several Kh-22 designations are treated as internal branches rather than separate catalog records. Public references do not always identify the exact branch in operational strike reporting.
| Designation | Configuration | Sourced distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Kh-22M / Kh-22MA | Tu-22M-era anti-ship branch | Missilery.info describes the M and MA versions as Tu-22M2 weapons adopted in the mid-1970s; FAS describes Kh-22M as a conventional active-radar anti-ship version. |
| Kh-22N | Improved active-radar branch | Missilery.info ties the N branch to the Tu-22M3-era K-22N complex and updated active-radar seeker equipment. |
| Kh-22NA | Autonomous or inertial branch | Missilery.info separates autonomous guidance from the active and passive seeker branches in its Tu-22M3-era family description. |
| Kh-22P / Kh-22NP | Passive anti-radar branch | FAS and Missilery.info both describe passive or anti-radar Kh-22-family variants for targets associated with air-defense radars or emitters. |
Source labels: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex); Raduga Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen).
The Kh-22 family used different seeker and guidance packages for anti-ship, area, anti-radar, and later Tu-22M3-era missions; public references often mix Russian X-22 transliteration with Kh-22 English transliteration.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
 | Kh-22-derived Russian modernization | Missilery.info describes Kh-32 as a further development of the Kh-22 family with updated equipment and Tu-22M3 carriage; the catalog has a separate public Kh-32 record because it appears as a distinct modern missile in Ukraine-war reporting. Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex) |
Kh-22 was built around bomber carriage rather than ground launchers or tactical aircraft; the public record most clearly ties it to Tu-22, Tu-22M, and modified Tu-95K-22 aircraft.
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Long-range bomber and missile carrier | Rosoboronexport's Tu-22M3E entry says the aircraft can carry up to three Kh-22E missiles, while FAS and Missilery.info identify Tu-22M/Tu-22M3 aircraft as central Kh-22 carriers. Sources: Rosoboronexport Aerospace Systems Catalogue 2003, Raduga Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen), X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex) |
 | Strategic bomber carrier family | FAS and Missilery.info identify the modified Tu-95K-22 as a Kh-22 carrier path, with Missilery.info describing Tu-95K-22 carriage under the fuselage and wings. Sources: Raduga Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen), X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex) |
Missilery.info traces K-22 system development to a Soviet Council of Ministers decree and assigns missile development to the Dubna branch that later became Raduga.
Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex)
The early K-22 complex with Tu-22K carrier aircraft and Kh-22 missile completed state testing and entered long-range aviation service in the late 1960s.
Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex)
Improved Kh-22M and Kh-22MA versions were adopted for the Tu-22M2 weapon complex, broadening the missile family beyond the original Tu-22K installation.
Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex)
Missilery.info places adoption of the Tu-22M3-era K-22N complex in 1976, with active, passive, and autonomous guidance branches described for the family.
Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex)
The Tu-95K-22 modification added a strategic bomber carrier path for the Kh-22 family, although those aircraft were later retired.
Sources: X-22 Cruise Missile (K-22 Complex)
Human Rights Watch reported that Ukrainian Air Force command identified Kh-22 missiles fired from Russian aircraft in the Kremenchuk attack, which struck a shopping center and nearby industrial site.
Sources: Ukraine: Russian Missile Kills Civilians in Shopping Center
Ukrinform relayed Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk's statement that a Kh-22 launched by Russian Tu-22M3 bombers hit an apartment block in Dnipro.
Sources: Air Force Commander on Dnipro Kh-22 Strike
Ukrainska Pravda, citing Oleksandr Syrskyi's reported figures, stated that Russia had launched 362 Kh-22 and Kh-32 missiles from Tu-22M3 bombers and that two had been shot down.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda Kh-22/Kh-32 Missile Totals
Ukrinform reported a combined Russian strike that included 12 Kh-22/Kh-32 missiles from Bryansk-region airspace, with Ukrainian forces reporting nine Kh-22/Kh-32 missiles downed.
Sources: Ukrinform Jan. 24, 2026 Air Attack Report
