Russia reveals hypersonic missile able to reach US in MINUTES in plan to load it to bomber
State-run news agency TASS quotes a source within the defence ministry as saying the Russian air force is planning to test the country’s Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aero-ballistic missile onboard the Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire bomber, in a significant development which will have NATO chiefs worried.
The Tu-22M3 can travel at nearly twice the speed of sound meaning it can travel between Russia and Washington within minutes.
At the moment, the missile is launched from the Mikoyan MiG-31K variant of the Foxhound interceptor, but military chiefs have concluded Kinzhal might be more suitable for a bomber.
Speaking to the TASS news agency, retired Lieutenant General Mikhail Oparin, former commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces Long Range Aviation branch said: “The MiG-31 has higher supersonic speed than the Tu-22M3 but now that a possibility has emerged to test the missiles aboard a long-range plane, this has to be done.