Russian Air Force's new Kinzhal hypersonic air to surface ballistic missile and carrier MiG-31 fighter designated MiG-31K, marked ...
Russian Air Force's new Kinzhal hypersonic air to surface ballistic missile and carrier MiG-31 fighter designated MiG-31K, marked public debut during the Victory parade in Red Square on May 9.
Two MiG-31K fighters flew with the missile hung under belly, during the parade over the central Moscow.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile was first revealed by President Putin in March 2018, which will enable a strategic ground and anti-ship attack capability to the Mach 2 plus capable MiG-31 interceptor.
Russian Defense Ministry had earlier revealed 10 MiG-31K fighters are operational with the Southern Military District.
The K variants has underwent considerable modification to carry the Kinzhal. The radar has been removed to enable carrying more fuel and the avionics has been modified to fire the missile.
Due to change in center of gravity while carrying the missile, the aircraft flying characteristics has changed and the pilots where retrained.
The Kinzhal is a air-launched version of the Iskander-M tactical surface to surface ballistic missile.
Russia claims the increased kinetics imparted by the MiG-31K carrier enable the Kinzhal to strike targets at more than 2000 km, four times the range in its ground launched configuration.
The twin engined MiG-31 Foxhound was introduced in 1981 as follow on to the famous MiG-25 Foxbat fighter for swift long range interception to patrol the vast Soviet air space.
The high speed well in excess of Mach 2 and long range coupled with the powerful Phazotron Zaslon intercept radar make them a highly capable interceptor.
