AS-14 Kedge missile

The AS-14 Kedge missile is a laser-guided air-to-surface weapon whose passage from aircraft to target forms a tightly staged sequence in the attack across the Bosporus. The first missile is presented not simply as a weapon carried into combat but as a chain of decisions and confirmations: target lock, a warning that the launch range has been reached, firing at maximum range, and impact at the base of a concrete tower. A later radio exchange introduces a second missile, extending the attack while leaving its outcome unstated.

Configuration and Target Lock

The attacking MiG-27 carries two AS-14 air-to-surface missiles. The narrative describes them as laser-guided weapons known in the NATO lexicon as Kedge. Before the first launch, the port-side missile has a solid lock on its target. That detail establishes the attack’s immediate technical condition: the pilot has an acquired target, but must still time the firing within the mission’s limits.

A warning light signals that the aircraft is within range of the primary target. Because Turkish interceptors may soon enter the area, the mission parameters call for firing at maximum range. The pilot double-checks the lock before pressing the firing button. The sequence makes the missile’s use dependent on a narrow conjunction of target acquisition, range, and urgency; the approaching interceptors give the launch a deadline rather than leaving it as a purely mechanical act.

Launch and Impact

The pilot reports the launch over the radio: “Black One, missile away!” The aircraft then lurches skyward as the roughly six-hundred-kilogram Kedge drops from the pylons beneath its left-side inlet duct. The physical response of the MiG marks the moment when the weapon leaves the aircraft, translating the pilot’s button press into a change in flight.

The missile travels south across the Bosporus, only a few feet above the dark, oily water. It strikes the base of the westernmost of two large concrete towers, and its warhead triggers. The account gives the missile a precise route, height, and point of impact, but does not state the extent of the resulting damage. Its passage from a confirmed lock to a low flight over the channel and a warhead detonation at the tower base supplies the first concrete result of the attack without resolving everything that follows.

Second Missile and Unresolved Outcome

The narrative later shifts from the first impact to the aircraft’s remaining weapon. Black Leader tells Flashlight that the secondary target is illuminated. After checking the readouts, the pilot confirms acquisition and a lock on the second AS-14 at a range of ten kilometers, then calls, “Firing missile!” This exchange echoes the earlier launch sequence—target information, a lock, and a firing call—but concerns a distinct target and a second missile.

The evidence establishes that the second target has been illuminated and acquired and that the pilot announces the firing. It does not describe the second missile’s flight or impact. That difference matters to the weapon’s role in the scene: the first Kedge’s path ends in a specified strike, while the second launch is presented at the threshold of action. The missiles therefore structure the attack as both a recorded impact and an unresolved continuation.