Russian air regiment to receive Kinzhal hypersonic missiles by 2024.

The air regiment stationed in Kansk in the Krasnoyarsk Region will be rearmed with Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles by 2024, Central Military District Commander Colonel-General Alexander Lapin said on Thursday.

MiG-31K aircrafts equipped with Kinzhal cruise missiles (Picture source: Alexander Ryumin/TASS)

"In accordance with the plan, we are to rearm the Kansk regiment with Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles by 2024," the commander stated.

The Kinzhal is the latest Russian airborne system that consists of a MiG-31K aircraft as a delivery vehicle and a hypersonic missile. According to media reports, a Kinzhal missile is the airborne version of the Iskander tactical missile system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile system in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly in March 2018. Currently, a squadron of MiG-31K aircraft armed with hypersonic missiles is on experimental combat duty in Russia’s Southern Military District.

The Krasnoyarsk air regiment based in the town of Kansk operates MiG-31BM supersonic fighter jets.

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