1/3/2024 0 Comments Omber akiainavas systemIn a March 2018 speech to the Duma, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (Dagger) missile, describing it as a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile with a range of over 1,360 miles when launched from a MiG-31 fighter. The extreme speed of the missile reduces flight time by a factor of four compared to a subsonic antiship missile, reducing the defensive value of locational uncertainty between launch and impact time. The longer range of the Tu-22M3M complicates a carrier strike group’s ability to set up a barrier defense. Navy fighters have much better radars and avionics than the F-14, they lack its long-range (and even the F-14 range would not be adequate against a Kh-32-armed aircraft). The Soviet-era Kh-22 (still reportedly operational) has half the range of the new weapon. The Kh-32 makes it more difficult to intercept the Backfire before weapons-release range. If so, more than 100 operational Backfire bombers could be carrying it now. The Kh-32 reportedly became operational in 2016. This gives a powerful conventional antiship warhead capability as well. 7 Russia Beyond the Headlines reports the Kh-32’s accuracy within a few yards and warhead weight limit at 1,002 pounds. 6 Sputnik News and Russia Beyond the Headlines report that it is nuclear capable, which is confirmed in the 2018 U.S. 5 That appears too high, except perhaps in a terminal dive, but even at Mach 4 at 130,000 feet it is a very serious threat, possibly invulnerable to existing Western air-defense systems.Īccording to Russian media and other Russian publications, the Kh-32’s range is 620 miles. Sputnik News states its speed is Mach 4.1 and TASS puts it at more than Mach 5. The Kh-32 travels just below hypersonic speed and is a dual-capable (nuclear and conventional) antiship and land-attack cruise missile. Not only does the TU-22M3 have improved range, but according to Russian state media it also carries the new Kh-32 long-range supersonic cruise missile. The Tu-22M3M should have significantly longer range because TASS reports its new NK-32-02 engine is the same used in the new Tu-160M2 heavy bomber, which Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said will increase its range by approximately 600 miles. 3 Backfire bombers routinely fly more than 3,100 miles to strike targets in Syria. 2 TASS reports the TU-22M3 has a range of approximately 4,350 miles (subsonic and at high altitude), which is greater than the 3,700 mile range stated by former Chief of the Russian Air Force Colonel General Viktor Bondarev (now a Duma parliamentarian) in November 2017. Russia already has increased the strike radius of the existing Backfire (Tu-22M3) by giving it air-to-air refueling capability, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Backfire’s manufacturer, Tupolev, claims the improved Backfire bomber will be operational in 2021. This is important because the Department of Defense has said the United States currently has no defense against hypersonic missiles. In addition to the new land-attack missiles (the Kh-101 and Kh-555, according to Russian press), there reportedly will be at least two long-range ultrahigh-speed dual-capable (nuclear and conventional) missiles with land-attack and antiship capability. The Backfire weapon upgrade is quite impressive, enhancing the bomber’s capabilities against both land targets and surface ships. In 2018, TASS, Russia’s main official news agency, said that 30 bombers will be upgraded to the new configuration and will carry hypersonic missiles. In 2012, the well-connected Russian publication Izvestiya reported that all Tu-22M3 Backfires will be assigned a naval mission. The recently improved Russian version of the Backfire, the Tu-22M3M, represents enhanced capability in virtually every area except stealth. During the Cold War, the Soviet missile-armed Backfire bomber represented one of the most serious threats to U.S. The Russian Air Force’s bomber fleet is back in the antiship strike business.
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