MOSCOW – Russia has for the first time publicly displayed one of the mostlethal weapons in its arsenal – the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (meaning Dagger)air-launched hypersonic nuclear missile. Kinnzhal was part of Russia’sVictory Day parade in Moscow on Wednesday and is one of its PresidentVladimir Putin’s strategic weapons which he announced in March 2018.

One Kinzhal missile each was mounted on two MiG-31BM (NATO codenameFoxhound) fighter jets which flew during the Victory Day parade.

The solid-fueled Kinzhal is an air-to-surface strike missile and Russiandefence experts claim it is highly manoeuvrable. Kinzhal can reach a topspeed of Mach 10 making it almost impossible to be intercepted by any knownanti-missile system. The missile has a range of 1,200 miles (approximately2,000 kilometres) and is capable of taking out targets at sea too.

The 8-metre long and 1-metre wide Kinzhal can carry a payload of 480 kgwhich can be either a conventional warhead or a nuclear one.

Kinzhal was test-fired from a MiG-31BM in March 2018. The MiG-31BM has anunfueled range of 1,860 miles (approx 2993 km) and Kinzhal fired by thefighter has a potential intercontinental strike capability. The missile isbasically a modified version of Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile,which too is highly manoeuvrable and can hit targets 500 km away.

However, western experts and NATO commanders have voiced theirapprehensions about Kinzhal’s capabilities. They say the Iskander-M reacheshypersonic speed only during the final phase of flight and since theKinzhal is modelled on it, this air-to-surface missile will have similarfeatures. Kinzhal is unlikely to be highly manoeuverable during theterminal phase, they say.