Russia’s airforce has migrated its latest-generation Kinzhal missile to a new type of combat aircraft, it claims, a development which is potentially bad news for Ukraine as it may give Russia the opportunity to deploy its airforce more effectively.
The Kinzhal missile, an air-launched ballistic missile which has seen limited use in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over the past year and which they claim is ‘hypersonic’ — this is disputed by Western observers — has been effectively deployed from a new airframe for the first time, they claim. Moscow said in a press statement on Monday that a Sukhoi 34 fighter-bomber had fired the missile in what they euphemistically called the “special military operation”.
Russia was to give “state awards” in recognition of this to the crew involved, Moscow said.
The ability to attack Ukraine with the Kinzhal from the SU-34 is potentially significant, says an analyst cited by Newsweek, because at present they are generally launched from MIG-31s and moving the responsibility onto other airframes frees that aircraft up for other duties. It is claimed the MIG-31 has proven adept at intercepting Ukrainian fighters, and they could do more of this if they weren’t putting time into bombarding Ukrainian cities.
The Kinzhal is a young weapons system in the grand scheme of air-launched missiles, having entered service in 2017. By Russia’s own account, it is still technically under evaluation, and is being used in Ukraine on an experimental basis.
While Russia says the missile is “Russia’s latest system with hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles… features low radar signature and high maneuverability and is designed to strike ground and naval targets” whether it is technically a true hypersonic missile has been questioned. Western analysis claims the weapons do not truly qualify because while they are fast, an established understanding of what hypersonic means implies a real leap forward in manoeuvrability which does not appear to be present in the system.
Previous Russian claims that the Kinzhals are “unstoppable” have also been seriously shaken by their deployment in the field, with Ukraine having now claimed to have shot down several of the missiles using U.S. made Patriot defence batteries.
Russia re-focussing its airforce with the SU-34 rollout may spur on Ukrainian calls for the West to speed their handover of F-16 fighters, which it says it needs to assert air superiority in its own airspace and roll back the Russian occupation.