Russia Releases Kinzhal Test Footage


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On March 11, Russia released footage of its new ‘Kinzhal’ nuclear-capable air-launched missile. The Kinzhal was first announced by Putin earlier this month, in his State of the Union to Russia’s Federal Assembly. Putin claimed that the Kinzhal’s “unique flight characteristics of the high-speed carrier aircraft allow the missile to be delivered to the point of discharge within minutes…The missile flying at a hypersonic speed, 10 times faster than the speed of sound, can also maneuver at all phases of its flight trajectory.” In the new launch footage, the Kinzhal is shown mounted under a MiG-31 interceptor aircraft. Multiple reports note that the missile appears similar to Russia’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile.