Kh-20

The Raduga Kh-20 (NATO reporting name: AS-3 Kangaroo) was an air launched cruise missile armed with a thermonuclear warhead which was developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

One of the greatest challenges in the early development was starting the missile's Lyulka AL-7F turbojet engine after prolonged flight in the very cold upper atmosphere.

Government trials took place between October 15, 1958, and November 1, 1959, and consisted of 16 launches of which 11 were considered successful although accuracy still left much to be desired.

However, arming a Tu-95 with Kh-20 took 22 hours and the first-generation thermonuclear warheads were difficult to store which made them unsuitable for first-response weapons.

By the late 1970s, Kh-20 no longer had the performance required to penetrate enemy air defenses and it was replaced by Kh-22 (NATO designation AS-4 Kitchen) by mid-1980s.

A Kh-20 missile on display.