SSM-22 Cherubinja
| SSM-22 Cherubínja | |
|---|---|
 Prototype SSM-22 in flight | |
| Type | Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) |
| Place of origin |  Inyursta |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2012-present |
| Used by | Inyurstan Airforce |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Morales-Sevalière Design Bureau (MSDB) |
| Designed | 2007 |
| Produced | 2011-present |
| Specifications | |
Detonation mechanism | Impact or Sensor-fused Airburst |
| Blast yield | 640kg |
| Propellant | Solid Rocket Fuel |
Operational range | 3,500km |
| Speed | Mach 5 - Mach 8 |
Guidance system | GPS with TIMU and Inertial Guidance |
The SSM-22 Cherubinja ("Cherub") is a medium-range ballistic missile in service with the strategic rocket forces of the Aéroforça D'Inyursta. It is designed to engage strategic targets, such as command centers, factories and logistical support facilities at long ranges with conventional munitions.
Design
Designed as a "semi stop-gap" - a program entered into service designed to temporarily meet service needs while serving as a testbed/technology platform - while the Archànge Hypersonic Missile undergoes pre-service production.
Solid-fuel propellant is used, allowing the missile to be stored and then readily deployed when needed.
While the missile reaches as high as Mach 8, it is estimated that terminal speed is closer to Mach 5.
Warhead
Several warhead options are available for the Cherubínja. First, a delayed-fused penetrating warhead. Because of the high-velocity speeds associated with re-entry, the warhead is primarily inert mass, with only a 240kg explosive filling and short time-fuse delay, instead relying on kinetic energy to do most of the penetration while the explosives are purely for post-penetration effects. A second option is an impact-detonated high-explosive (HE) munition. Lastly, an airburst high-explosive incendiary (HE-I) warhead which detonates just above the target infrastructure and spreads explosive shockwave and a thermite-cocktail metal incendiaries.
The Cherubínja includes a "decoy warhead" that separates from the main payload of the missile in it's terminal phase. In doing so, this creates a second similar radar target which can complicate ABM defenses possibly causing a miss OR attritioning the number of interceptors, requiring roughly twice the launched projectiles per missile.
Controversies
Cherubínja is the source of a number of controversies, usually considered a waste of money or a redundant, under-performing "hype weapon", but also considered a weapon too risky to ever see proper employment.
Nuclear Risk
Critics claim that the "tactical" use of a conventional MRBM is indistinguishable from the launch of one carrying a nuclear weapon - thus limiting its employment against peer state enemies; which are ironically the kinds of enemies such a weapon would necessitate.
Target Types
Because the warhead is less than what can be deployed by fighters and tactical bombers, as well as more-accurate and less-risky weapons, the Cherubínja is criticized as being redundant and filling a role better served by other technologies. Unlike other delivery methods, an MRBM is extremely costly and generally reserved for high-level strategic targets. Critics further argue that the "window" of targets which qualify for immediate termination but cannot be engaged by other means is extremely narrow.