A separate aviation regiment of MiG-31 fighters armed with the Dagger hypersonic missile has been formed in Russia. This was announced on Tuesday, December 21, by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Minister also noted that the rearmament of the first missile regiment to the Avangard hypersonic complex has been completed in the Russian Federation.
"The Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) have completed the rearmament of the first missile regiment to the Avangard missile system with intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with hypersonic gliding cruise blocks," he said.
In addition, the fifth spacecraft "Dome" of the space segment of the missile attack warning system was launched.
"The combat capabilities and control technologies of the Unified Space System are increasing. The fifth Kupol spacecraft has been launched, the construction of the Western Modernized CEN Command Post has been completed with its transfer to trial operation," the minister explained.
In addition, Shoigu said that the next nuclear submarine of the Borei-A project, armed with "Maces", was accepted into the Russian Navy. The Navy also received three submarines, four surface ships and three coastal missile systems in 2021.
Shoigu also noted that Russia has reliably covered its borders in the Arctic from foreign aggression at the expense of military bases, the deployment of military complexes, aviation and air defense.
"On the Arctic islands, archipelagos and in remote areas of the coast, the creation of two military bases has been completed, the combat duty of air defense units and coastal missile systems has been organized. The reconstruction of five airfields for receiving all types of aircraft is being completed," the minister explained.
Earlier in the day, Putin said that Russia would continue to pay increased attention to the development of the Armed Forces. The Russian leader noted that work on large-scale modernization of the army and navy was continued in the Russian Federation in 2021. As a result, the share of modern weapons in the troops exceeded 71%, and in the strategic nuclear forces — 89%.
The President said that in 2022 it is necessary to continue the planned and balanced equipping of Russian troops with modern weapons.
December 17 Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Sergey Karakaev spoke about Russia's development of new hypersonic strategic complexes that will replace the Avangard units when the United States finds means of countering them.
On December 16, military expert Dmitry Kornev told Izvestia that the Zircon hypersonic missile could indeed be put into service in 2022.
