Russia`s defense industry will upgrade the Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) that made its combat debut in the Syrian operation, the Director General of the Tactical Missiles Corporation (Russian acronym: KTRV, Korporatsiya Takticheskoe Raketnoe Vooruzhenie), Boris Obnosov told the Rambler News Service.

"We are enhancing certain specifications of the Kh-101 ALCM in order to increase the missile`s range and precision," Obnosov said.

According to the open sources, the Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile has a combat weight of 2,400 kg (including a warhead of 400 kg), a length of 745 cm, and a speed of Mach 0.6-0.78. The missile can be equipped with high-explosive (HE), penetrating, or cluster warhead. Kh-101 is integrated with the Tu-160 (NATO reporting name: Blackjack) and Tu-95MSM (Bear-H) strategic bombers of Russia`s Aerospace Forces (Russian acronym: VKS, Vozdushno-Kosmicheskie Sily). 

Russian defense analysts suppose that the Kh-101 ALCM has an operational range of 5,000 km, a cruise speed of 700-720 km/h, a maximum speed of 970 km/h, and an endurance of flight of 10 hours. The new cruise missile is believed to be able to correct its flight trajectory. The analysts of IHS Jane`s suppose that the Kh-101 ALCM has a circular error probability of no more than 6 m. The missile is widely believed to have a low radar signature.