Russian missiles miss the target and crash inside their territory again
The series of Russian mishaps continues as their missiles still fall on Russian territory. In one of the latest attacks directed towards Ukraine, a Kh-101 missile launched from a Tu-95 bomber did not reach its target and crashed within the Russian Federation.
7:06 AM EDT, June 7, 2024
This is another instance where a Russian missile has fallen on Russian territory. In recent months, such incidents have repeatedly occurred, with one of the most recent being the crash of an Iranian-made drone, Mohajer-6, in the Kursk Oblast.
Previously, the Russians have lost an anti-ship Kh-35 missile due to unknown malfunctions, which crashed in the Krasnodar Krai. Kh-55 and Kh-101 rockets have also fallen in similar locations within the Volgograd Oblast.
The list compromising the world's second-largest army now includes another Kh-101 missile, one of the most popular and recent additions to the Russian Federation's arsenal. The rocket launched during one of the recent attacks crashed again in the Volgograd Oblast, which is at least 93 miles from the Ukrainian border. This area likely lies in the flight path of many Russian missiles, as the latest incident is not isolated.
Another Russian missile falls in Russia
The wreckage of the Kh-101, found in an unspecified location in the Volgograd Oblast, is ammunition serially produced by the Russian defense industry from 2010-2011. It is thus one of the newer constructs that the Russian Federation's army regularly uses to conduct attacks on Ukraine.
The greatest asset of the Kh-101 is its stealth characteristic, featuring a design with reduced detectability. The flattened fuselage makes the missile difficult to identify during flight and allows it to achieve a maximum speed of around 621 mph.
The missile's mass is approximately 5,300 lbs, of which nearly 1,100 lbs is the warhead alone. Its total length is 24 feet. When launched from an aircraft, such a large missile can reach a distance of up to 2,800 miles, enabling the Russian Federation's army to attack virtually any target in Ukraine from a safe position.
A crucial addition enhancing the Kh-101's usability during strikes is the Otblesk-U guidance module, whose "eye" is directed downward. During the flight, the camera captures the terrain image beneath the missile and simultaneously verifies if the image the missile sees matches the pattern recorded before launch. This allows for exact strikes with an accuracy of a few meters. In newer versions, the Kh-101 features a triple-lens Otblesk-U system; earlier generations used only one lens for observation.
