The aerial attack of russian invasion forces on Ukraine on January 23rd included missiles produced just recently, an inscription on an unexploded warhead of an intercepted missile testifies. The weight of the explosive component in this warhead, belonging to the Kh-101 land attack cruise missile, is about 450 kg.
Defense Express obtained a photo from our sources, revealing the markings on this object. We blurred the not-for-public part and left the important one: "90/23" means the warhead was made in the 90th batch of 2023. Although the exact number of batches produced per year is unknown, the observed trend is that such a batch number usually refers to the missiles manufactured in the last weeks of the year.
Read more: The russians Claim That the Kh-101 Cruise Missile Could Receive a Warhead Weighing 800 kg at a Shorter Range
What it means is that the assembly could have taken place within the past months, if not days, considering the time it takes for the component to reach the assembly factory and the duration of the work itself. This marks another instance of russia utilizing brand-new weapons for airstrikes, an indication of completely depleted stocks of this type of weapon.
The main manufacturer of Kh-101 is the State Machine-Building Design Bureau Raduga JSC, part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC. It is located in Dubna, 100 km from Moscow.
During the recent visit to the facility by Minister of Defense of russia Sergei Shoigu, he was told about a missile in development, most likely a modified Kh-101, that has an increased warhead of 800 kg.
Worth noting, the Kh-101 has become the primary air-launched long-range attack weapon of russia. It has seen multiple modernizations since the outbreak of the all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, including improvements to the DSMAC navigation system and introduction of radio flares.
Read more: Assessing the Potential Consequences of Ongoing Ukrainian Strikes Deep Inside russian Territory
