Kh-47M2 Kinzhal

The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (in Russian: Х-47М2 Кинжал, "Dagger", NATO reporting name Killjoy) is a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile. It has a claimed range of more than , Mach 12 speed (2.5 mi/s), and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors. It has been deployed at airbases in Russia's Southern Military District and Western Military District.

The Kinzhal entered service in December 2017 and was one of the six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 1 March 2018.

Design

The missile is designed to hit NATO warships posing a threat to strategic missile systems in European Russia and to destroy NATO missile defence systems, ballistic missile defense ships and land objects close to the Russian borders. It is allegedly designed to overcome any known or planned NATO air or missile defense systems including the MIM-104 Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Aegis Combat System. Rather than using the more recent hypersonic glide and scramjet missile designs, it uses the more classical ballistic missile technology at greater speeds.

The overall design of the missile is shared with the 9K720 Iskander, with the guidance section modified for Kinzhal. It can reportedly hit both static and mobile targets such as aircraft carriers.

Because it flies at hypersonic speeds within the atmosphere, the air pressure in front of it forms a plasma cloud as it moves, absorbing radio waves (Plasma stealth).

The high speed of the Kinzhal gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter, slower cruise-missiles. With advanced maneuvering capabilities, high precision and hypersonic speed, some sources give it the name "carrier killer" due to its alleged ability to disable and possibly even sink a 100,000 ton supercarrier with a single strike. With a mass of and a speed of Mach 12 (including 500 kg warhead and the other parts of the missile), the Kinzhal has more than 16.9 gigajoules of kinetic energy, or the equivalent of  kg of TNT.

Russian media claims the missile's range is when carried by the MiG-31K and when carried by the Tu-22M3.

Some Western press media and specialists consulted have expressed reservations about the capabilities of the device.

Operational history

The Kinzhal entered service in December 2017 and was one of the six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 1 March 2018.

In May 2018, ten MiG-31Ks capable of using Kinzhal missiles were on experimental combat duty and ready to be deployed. By December 2018, aircraft armed with Kinzhal missiles had conducted 89 sorties over the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

By February 2019, crews of the MiG-31K Kinzhal missile carriers had performed more than 380 training sorties with the missile, of which at least 70 have used air-to-air refueling. The weapon made its public debut during the Aviadarts international contest in August 2019.

According to TASS, the first launch of Kinzhal in the Arctic took place mid-November, 2019. The launch was reportedly carried out by a MiG-31K from Olenya air base. The missile hit a ground target at "Pemboy" proving ground, reaching a speed of Mach 10. In June 2021, a Kinzhal missile was launched by a MiG-31K from Khmeimim Air Base on a ground target in Syria. A separate aviation regiment was formed in 2021 which is armed with MiG-31K aircraft with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

Rumours in early February 2022 suggested that several MiG-31 interceptors armed with Kinzhal missiles were dispatched from Soltsy Air Base, Novgorod Oblast, to Chernyakhovsk Naval Air Base in Russia's western Kaliningrad exclave. Russia's Aerospace Force launched Kinzhal missiles on 19 February 2022.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military said that it used Kinzhal missiles to destroy an alleged underground weapons depot of the Ukrainian armed forces in Deliatyn on 18 March 2022 and a fuel depot in Konstantinovka the next day. U.S President Joe Biden said of its use "As you all know, it's a consequential weapon but with the same warhead on it as any other launched missile. It doesn't make that much difference except it's almost impossible to stop it."

It was reportedly used again on 11 April. On 9 May, according to reports, Russian Tu-22 aircraft launched three Kinzhal-type missiles at targets in the port city of Odesa.

Three MiG-31K fighter aircraft with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have redeployed to the Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad Region 18 August 2022.

According to unconfirmed reports, a Russian MiG-31 thought to be carrying a Kinzhal missile crashed on take-off from an air base in Belbek, Crimea on 1 October 2022. While the navigator managed to eject the pilot died.

Operators

;
* Russian Aerospace Forces

See also

*AGM-183 ARRW
*Avangard (hypersonic glide vehicle)
* 3M22 Zircon
*Kh-22

References

External links

Kh-47M2 Kinzhal

{{Russian and Soviet missiles

Post–Cold War weapons of Russia
Kinzhal
Air-launched ballistic missiles
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Hypersonic aircraft
Military equipment introduced in the 2010s