Russia Places 10 MiG-31s on Experimental Combat Duty With “Hypersonic” Missiles

A game-changer? 

Dave Majumdar [2]

The Kremlin’s new “hypersonic” Kh-47M2 Kinzhal—or Dagger in English—missile made its public debut during Russia’s annual Victory Day Parade onboard a pair of newly modified MiG-31K Foxhound supersonic interceptors [3] on May 9.

The new weapon was announced during a speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin on March 1 [4], when he introduced a host of developmental capabilities designed to overcome American-made missile defenses. Ten MiG-31 aircraft, which are currently on “experimental combat duty,” have been modified to carry the Kinzhal thus far. The Foxhound was chosen to carry the Kinzhal because of its range and huge payload capacity combined with its high altitude and blistering speed. The jet is capable of cruising at Mach 2.35 with an air-to-air payload and is temperature limited to Mach 2.83.

“The MiG-31 is its carrier, this aircraft is most suitable to disperse this missile to the required speeds at the right altitudes,” Russian deputy defense minister Yury Borisov told the Russian-language outlet Star [5]. “In support of the fact that this is not some kind of exotic: Today, ten aircraft are on experimental combat duty and are ready for use depending on the situation.”

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