Armed with hypersonic missiles, Russian MiG-31 fighters to patrol Black Sea waters

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared from Beijing that MiG-31 aircraft equipped with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system will patrol the international airspace over the Black Sea.

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«It is not a threat that I am announcing now: by my order, the Aerospace Forces will start steadily patrolling the international airspace zone over the Black Sea, and our MiG-31 aircraft will be armed with the ‘Kinzhál’ system,» Putin told reporters Wednesday. «As is known, they have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers at a speed of Mach 9,» he added.

«I warned that this is not a threat, but we will carry out visual control, armed control, of what is happening in the Black Sea,» the Russian Federation president reported from China.

Russia accelerates deployment of hypersonic missiles

The «Kinzhal» is an air strike system consisting of a high-precision hypersonic aeroballistic missile installed under the fuselage of the modernized and specially adapted MiG-31 long-range fighter-interceptor. According to the Russian military, it is capable of reaching targets at distances of more than 2,000 kilometers, surpassing all existing and in development anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems by a guaranteed margin.

It was reported that 10 fighter-interceptors in the MiG-31K (for «Kinzhal») modification are in service in the Southern Military District, operating in the Caspian Sea area. In addition, the military reported plans to equip the Kansk regiment in the Krasnoyarsk region with these complexes by 2024.

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Combat proven

The Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile was first used in combat to destroy a Ukrainian subway ammunition depot on March 18, 2023. Following this action, the Kinzhal missile system became the world’s first new-generation hypersonic weapon used in combat.

One of these hypersonic missiles is believed to have been responsible for damaging one of the Patriot air defense missile batteries deployed in the vicinity of Kiev.

Recent statements to Russian media claim that the Kinzhal is also being integrated into Sukhoi Su-34 long-range fighter-bombers and a first unit has already been used in combat over Ukraine.