During his address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, Vladimir Putin unveiled a number of new “game-changing” weapons, including what he called “the Kinzhal high-accuracy hypersonic aviation-missile complex.” The Russian president stated that the system had passed its firing trials and had been placed “on duty” in the Southern Military District in December last year. According to Putin, the projectile accelerates to a speed 10 times that of sound and executes evasive maneuvers along its flight trajectory after being dropped from a carrier aircraft. “This enables the missile to penetrate through all existing and projected air defense systems and deliver a nuclear or conventional warhead over a distance in excess of two thousand kilometers [1,080 nm].”
Putin’s statement was accompanied by a short video released by the Russian defense ministry that depicts a MiG-31 taking off with the missile, and later dropping it. The missile’s solid-fuel motor ignites a few seconds after release. The video also contains computer-generated 3D imagery of a MiG-31 executing a strike on warships. The air-launched missile first climbs, and then noses down in the direction of the intended target before diving on to it. Apparently, this kind of trajectory has been selected to harness the weapon’s high kinetics to achieve the longest range possible and ensure high speed at impact. On the following day, the Russian Air and Space Force (VKS) commander, General Sergei Surovikin, added that the system enables stand-off strikes using “the modernized MiG-31 and the highly accurate hypersonic aero-ballistic missile.”
