A Russian missile maker was set ablaze on Sunday by a drone strike, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known by the acronym GUR.
Ukraine’s GRU on Monday confirmed that Ukrainian attack drones struck a Russian aircraft factory where Kh-59 missiles were produced.
“On October 1, 2023, a strike on the Smolensk Aviation Plant disrupted the production of Kh-59 missiles of various modifications,” GUR said in a statement on its website.
The GUR added that three out of four drones hit the target, causing significant damage to the production facilities of Russia’s military enterprise.
The Kh-59 is an air-to-surface missile designed for precision strikes against ground and naval targets. The missile was developed by Raduga Design Bureau (part of the military holding company JSC “Tactical Missiles Corporation”) and manufactured at the Smolensk Aviation Plant.
The baseline Kh-59 has a range of 200 km. It has a launch weight of 930 kg. It carries a 320 kg warhead. Target coordinates were fed to the missile before its launch. After launch, the missile used inertial guidance. On the terminal stage, around 10 km from the target location, a guidance system is activated.
💥 Ударні дрони атакували російський авіазавод, де виробляли ракети Х-59
✔️ 1 жовтня 2023 року внаслідок удару по Смоленському авіаційному заводу порушено процес з виробництва ракет Х-59 різних модифікацій.
🔗 https://t.co/O3ni8hmWVV pic.twitter.com/Knq8eIYcVA
— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) October 2, 2023