Russia deploys upgraded Ch‑101 with cluster warhead in Ukraine

The Russian Federation Army has used the Ch-101 cruise missile with a cluster warhead for the first time, reports the Ukrainian portal Militarny. Since the outbreak of the war with Ukraine, this marks the fourth modernization of this advanced weapon.

The Russian Ch-101 missile is one of the newest designs in the arsenal of the Russian Federation. Production of this ammunition began in 2010-2011 and continues to this day.

However, the design of the Ch-101 is constantly changing. In the first version, the missile had a primary optical system based on a single lens. In subsequent months of the war, it received further upgrades. In the second version, the Russians implemented an improved optical system with three lenses and an onboard system for defence against jamming.

Shortly after introducing the second version on the front, the Russians surprised the Ukrainians with another modernization. In the third generation, the improvement pertained to the warhead, explicitly using a double warhead system instead of a single one.

Now, the Russians have started using the fourth version of the Ch-101, the specifications of which were determined thanks to the missile's shooting down and examination of the wreckage. At the same time, it confirmed the worst fears, as the fourth edition of one of the Russian Federation's flagship missiles is equipped with two warheads, one of which is a cluster warhead.

What does this change mean for Ukrainians? Primarily, the presence of a cluster warhead makes the missile even more deadly and capable of covering a larger area with its range. This is due to the operating principle of this type of warhead; in general, "clusters" attack enemy positions by releasing numerous submunitions from the main body of the missile, which then fall over a large area. However, the problem is that the falling submunitions do not always detonate immediately, which means the small missiles can threaten civilians.

The Militarny portal explains that the Russians might have decided to install the second (cluster) warhead at the expense of reducing the fuel tanks of this subsonic missile, which accelerates to speeds of 1,000 km/h (620 mph).

Although the smaller amount of fuel leads to a reduced range, it is likely not crucial in the case of the Ch-101. In its basic version, it reaches up to 5,000 km (3,100 miles), allowing it to cover the entire area of Ukraine, even when fired from far away from the border. Therefore, the reduction in range is not critical in light of the distances separating Russian air bases from targets in Ukraine.

It should be recalled that the Ch-101 is a valuable weapon not only due to its destructive power, which has been further increased in the latest version. It is also high-precision ammunition; its striking accuracy is estimated to be within a few meters. This precision is thanks to the Otblesk-U guidance module, which verifies during the flight whether the image "seen" by the missile matches the image recorded before the ammunition was fired at the enemy.