The Kh-35E missile is designed to engage missile boats, torpedo boats, gunboats, surface ships of up to 5,000-t displacement, and transport vessels. The missile can be mounted on carriers of all types, including ships, coastal systems, and aircraft. The Kh-35E features a normal configuration with X-shaped control surfaces. It is powered by a turbojet engine.

The detachable solid propellant booster enables its employment from helicopters, vessels, and coast-based carriers. The missile has an HE shaped-charge incendiary warhead. It is containerised for transportation and storage. The Kh-35E has an active jamming-proof radar seeker. Target designation data can be fed to the missile both from the carrier facilities and external sources.

The inertial guidance system controls the missile flight to the target area. The combat effectiveness of the missile is increased at the expense of extremely low-altitude flight (3-5 m above sea surface), which complicates its interception by ship-based SAM assets. The Kh-35U missile with the same characteristics as the Kh-35E, arms the MiG-21, MiG- 29SMT, Su-30, Su-35 aircraft, and the Ka-27 and Ka-28 helicopters.