In 2022, the Russian Aerospace Forces will receive more than two hundred pieces of equipment, including new hypersonic weapons, said the deputy head of the Aerospace Forces Andrei Yudin.
“Within the framework of the State Defense Order in 2022, it is planned to purchase more than 200 units of the main types of weapons, military and special equipment of the Aerospace Forces, which will make it possible to achieve a modernity level of 89 per cent,” Yudin said in an interview with the official newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Krasnaya Zvezda.
“We also have to put on alert the promising models of armament and military equipment, including those with hypersonic weapons,” he added.
The deputy chief commander also noted that the Aerospace Forces should receive more than 250 pieces of equipment this year, including fifth-generation SU-57 fighters and SU-35S multipurpose fighters, Mi-28NM, and Ka-52 combat helicopters DA-42T training aircraft.
The troops will also receive S-350 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems, Pantsir-S air defense systems, Angara launch vehicles and military spacecraft.
“Currently, there is an active phase in the supply of weapons to the troops, and taking into account the fulfilment by industrial organizations of their obligations by the end of the year, the share of modern weapons and military equipment will be 87%, and serviceability will reach 83%,” Yudin said.
Currently, the Russian service has only one hypersonic aviation complex – the MiG-31K with the “Dagger” missile, capable of 10 times the speed of sound and hitting targets at a distance of more than 2 thousand km. According to official data, since the end of 2017, 10 fighters in the MiG-31K Dagger modification have been on experimental combat duty in the Southern Military District.
Russia has gone far ahead in creating hypersonic weapons and weapons based on new physical principles, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov said on September 17, 2021.
“For many years, we have tried to be on a par with or catch up with the leading weapons development of Western countries. And for the first time in all this time, we have pulled ahead. In the field of creating hypersonic weapons,” Borisov said then.
Earlier, the Russian military announced the successful launch of the Zircon hypersonic missile from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov. They noted that, according to objective control data, the flight of the hypersonic missile corresponded to the specified parameters.
New air launched hypersonic missile from Russia
Another hypersonic weapon system is being created in Russia. It is being implemented as part of the Larchinka-MD development work (ROC). The product is at the stage of prototyping, and it has not yet entered flight tests. The new missile is designed to equip the Su-57 stealth fighters. Presumably, it will fly at speeds five or more times faster than sound and will become practically invulnerable to modern air and missile defense systems.
The Russian defense department says that the hypersonic ammunition is being developed for arming the Su-57. The missile will fit into the internal compartments of a Russian stealth fighter. It is expected to replace the X-31 family of anti-ship supersonic missiles that were created in the 1980s.