Type
High-speed land-attack cruise missile.
Development
Developed by the Chelomey Design Bureau (now NPO Mashinostroyenia, or NPO Mash) under great secrecy from the late 1970s onwards, the Meteorit missile system has had a shadowy existence under several guises. The Meteorit was, and is, a highly significant piece of weapons technology because it attempted to combine very long range and very high speed in a vehicle that could deliver several nuclear warheads from an airborne or underwater launch point. Furthermore, some observers believe that radical new approaches in low observable technology (stealth) may also have been tested on such missiles. The challenge to field an effective weapon proved to be too much for the Russian developers. However, the advanced technology embodied in the deeply-classified Meteorit programme remains available and is still under development so some degree, hampered largely by its prohibitive costs.Given the NATO codename AS-X-19 'Koala', the programme was first reported by the US DoD in 1986 and was confirmed by the Soviets in 1988, when the US Secretary of Defense was shown around a Tu-160 'Blackjack' bomber at an airbase near Moscow. This event has long since associated the weapon with the Tu-160 but the Meteorit was actually a missile for external carriage by the Tu-95. By the time it was revealed during the US visit the Meteorit was more than 10 years old. The Chelomey project began as a rival to the Raduga Kh-55 (AS-15 'Kent') cruise missile but was a much more complex and ambitious programme. The Meteorit was drawn up to
The complete article appears in the following publication:
Publication Title Jane's Air-Launched Weapons
Publication date Aug 01, 2008
Section Air-to-surface missiles - Stand-off and cruise
Publication synopsis The only accessible and constantly updated guide to the world's inventories of airborne weapons. Covering well over 600 systems, in service or in development, it provides a detailed and comprehensive reference to: capabilities/technology; functionality/effectiveness; user base; combat record; upgrades, variants and future enhancements. The guide includes extensive analysis tables covering all weapon types, national inventories and aircraft weapon loads and documents the world's air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, bombs, rockets, guns and underwater weapons, including new and emerging weapons.
Key contents include
Detailed review of worldwide events in the air-launched world. New systems, weapons tests/trials, combat details, contracts and deliveries, industrial moves and more
Air-to-air missiles within and beyond visual range
Air-to-surface missiles & direct attack, anti-ship, stand off and cruise missiles
Bombs & precision and guided munitions, cluster and dispenser munitions, nuclear weapons, conventional unguided bombs
Guns - integrated and mounted, podded systems
Air-launched rockets
Underwater weapons - mines/depth charges, torpedoes
Analysis tables
Contractors listings
Different sections provide in-depth detail covering
Air-Launched Rockets
Air-To-Air Missiles - Beyond Visual Range
Air-To-Air Missiles - Within Visual Range
Air-To-Surface Missiles - Anti-Ship
Air-To-Surface Missiles - Direct Attack
Air-To-Surface Missiles - Stand-Off And Cruise
Analysis
Analysis - Air-To-Air Missiles
Analysis - Air-To-Surface Missiles
Analysis - Automatic Grenade Launchers
Analysis - Bombs
Analysis - Country Inventories - In Development
Analysis - Country Inventories - In Service
Analysis - Gun Pods And Mountings
Analysis - Guns
Analysis - In-Service Combat Aircraft And Their Air-Launched Weapons Capabilities
Analysis - Mines And Depth Charges
Analysis - Rocket Launchers
Analysis - Rockets
Analysis - Torpedoes
Analysis - Worldwide In-Service Combat Aircraft
Bombs - Cluster And Dispenser Munitions
Bombs - Precision And Guided Munitions
Bombs - Unguided
Contractors
Glossary
Guns - Integral And Mounted
Guns - Podded Systems
Underwater Weapons - Mines And Depth Charges
Underwater Weapons - Torpedoes
Underwater Weapons - Unclassified Projects