In recent days and weeks, the Russian Armed Forces have been conducting a series of patrol and surveillance flights across various regions of the globe. One of the most recent episodes involved MiG-31 interceptors of the Aerospace Forces (VKS), which carried out patrol and training flights in international airspace over the Sea of Japan. However, the distinctive aspect of this routine activity is that the combat aircraft operated while armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
The development was confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense itself, which released a video on its official channels showing two Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor fighters conducting a patrol flight over the Sea of Japan.
In this regard, the Russian defense ministry stated: “MiG-31I aircraft with Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles carried out a scheduled flight in the airspace over neutral waters of the Sea of Japan. During the flight, the MiG-31I crews practiced aerial refueling. The flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft were conducted in strict compliance with international rules for the use of airspace.”
Finally, following confirmation of this MiG-31 flight, neither the Ministry of Defense nor the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces have issued an official statement on the matter, in order to determine whether air and naval assets were placed on alert and deployed to track and monitor the Russian interceptors.
This is not a minor detail, as both Russian Armed Forces activities and those of the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) near the Japanese archipelagos typically trigger alerts and deployments by Japanese military assets. This was recently evidenced by surveillance flights conducted by P-3C Orion aircraft of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, used to monitor the activity of a Kilo II-class attack submarine in the southwestern reaches of the Japanese archipelago.
On the Kinzhal hypersonic missile
As shown in the video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the MiG-31 conducted their patrol over the Sea of Japan armed with the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, one of the air-launched hypersonic missiles currently in service with the Aerospace Forces.
Although various details about its development remain classified, sources indicate that it is derived from the 9K720 Iskander short-range ballistic missile, which has been adapted for launch from the veteran MiG-31 interceptor.
This is significant, as the MiG-31/Kinzhal pairing was among the first to adopt this configuration, leveraging a proven platform with years of service to give the interceptor a new role as a long-range strike vector. This trend is also being followed by countries such as the United States and China, which are using part of their strategic bomber fleets as launch platforms for cruise and hypersonic missiles.
As of today, more precise performance data on the Kinzhal remains unavailable, although it is estimated that the missile has a range of around 2,000 kilometers and can reach speeds of up to Mach 10.
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