The decades-old Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter jet of the Russian Naval Aviation will be armed with Kh-47M Kinzhal (dagger) hypersonic missiles, news agency Izvestiya reported.
According to the report, the 98th mixed regiment as part of the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula and the 317th Pacific Regiment in Kamchatkawil, receive the new version of Long-range MiG-31 fighters with K index that will be armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
The Kinzhal is the latest Russian air-launched system that consists of a MiG-31K combat aircraft as a delivery vehicle and a Kh-47M hypersonic missile. Russian state media reported that the Kinzhal missile is the airborne version of the Iskander tactical missile system.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile system in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly in March 2018. Currently, a squadron of MiG-31K aircraft armed with hypersonic missiles is on experimental combat duty in Russia’s Southern Military District.
The Kh-47M Kinzhal missile is capable of flying 10-12 times faster than sound at a range of up to 2000 km.
The missile is designed to target U.S. and NATO warships posing a threat to strategic missile systems in Russia’s European part and to destroy the NATO missile defense system and ballistic missile defense ships and land objects close to Russia borders.