Before starting the wave of attacks on the Ukrainian southern port city Odesa in July 2023, russian military industry modernized P-800 Oniks and Kh-22 cruise missiles, now used for nightly shelling.
The P-800 Oniks anti-ship missile fired by Bastion coastal defense systems got a general update while the Kh-22 was modernized to the more advanced Kh-32 version, said the representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Vadym Skibitskyi in an interview for the Ukrainian TV channel We Ukraine.
Read more: rUssians Attack Odesa, Hit Historical Center, Destroy Cathedral, Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Deliver Response to the Terrorists
If we summarize his words, the modernization of both missiles was aimed to upgrade their reliability and accuracy.
In the case of the P-800 Oniks, he recalled how in autumn 2022, the russians "often use them to shell Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions, there were many explosions but not [so many] hits." Apparently, after the modernization, russians decided to renew utilizing Bastion anti-ship missile systems for land attack strikes.
The russians keep their Bastion systems in the occupied Ukrainian territory, more precisely in Crimea from where the missiles can reach most of the big cities of Ukraine's south. The P-800 Oniks were used, in particular, during the latest attack on Odesa on the night of July 23rd.
Moving next to the Kh-22, intelligence officer Skibitskyi noted: "the Kh-22, essentially, has already become Kh-32, i.e. undergone a modernization." This statement implies that the entire or nearly entire arsenal of Kh-22 missiles has been upgraded to the Kh-32 version, although he did not specify how many missiles it would be.
Worth noting, the Ukrainian Air Force in its regular reports usually differentiates the Kh-22 from the Kh-32, and the recent attacks on Odesa involved Kh-22 missiles, as written in those reports. Defense Express earlier outlined the key differences between the Kh-22 and its level-up version called Kh-32. In short, the latter has an improved engine with better thrust, an updated guidance system based on modern components, and a lesser warhead.
There are reports suggesting that russians had up to 30 missiles of this type before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There is no clear data either on what aircraft can carry and launch the Kh-32 missile: only the modernized Tu-22M3M or the basic Tu-22M3 as well.
Read more: The russians Showed Tu-22M3M Bomber With Refueling in the Air - It Is Currently Not Clear What Missiles It Will Carry
