Report: Russia increases production of Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is an air-launched hypersonic missile typically loaded on specialized MiG-31K warplanes.
Russia has increased the production of Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles, state defense corporation Rostec said on Saturday according to Interfax.
“It went into production a long time ago, initially we didn’t need such a quantity. We are now increasing,” Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov reportedly said in a Zvezda Plus TV channel interview.
Chemezov said that the defense company had increased the production of some munitions by 50 times.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is an air-launched hypersonic missile typically loaded on specialized MiG-31K warplanes. MiG-31Ks have been seen in Belarus on training missions in recent months, as well in Kaliningrad following tensions with Lithuania.
The hypersonic missile, capable of delivering conventional and nuclear warheads at high speeds while evading modern air defense systems, was first reportedly used to strike a Ukrainian position early in the war.
Another hypersonic missile system, the anti-ship 3M22 Zircon, caught the attention of security services in early January when it was deployed for the first time, aboard the frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the Atlantic Ocean. Admiral Gorshkov is set to engage in joint naval exercises with China and South Africa from February 17-27.
An air-launched version of the Zircon was also planned but was delayed in March to advance the maritime version as the Kremlin already had the Kinzhal in service.
