An image of a new hypersonic air-launched missile was posted on the Network. There are no technical details about the complex.
The Dambiev telegram channel drew attention to the image. The appearance of the new weapon was revealed on the slide dedicated to the Oka-E-1 aviation weapons training complex, with the help of which the operation of aviation weapons is ensured. When and where the image was published, sources do not report. The exact modification is also not indicated.
Hypersonic weapons are understood as missiles capable of flying in the atmosphere at a hypersonic speed (greater than or equal to M = 5, six thousand kilometers per hour) and maneuvering using aerodynamic forces.
New Russian hypersonic air-launched missile
Image Source: Michael Jerdev
It is known that Russia is creating at least several hypersonic systems. Last year it was reported that they want to use the first serial Su-57 fighter to test such weapons. "The first serial Su-57 entered GLITZ at the end of November. It will be used to test the latest aviation hypersonic weapons," a TASS source in the defense industry said at the time.
The fact that the new fifth-generation fighter is considered as a carrier of hypersonic missiles was also discussed in 2018. According to unofficial data, the Su-57 will receive hypersonic weapons, which it will be able to launch from internal compartments.
Thus, the missile will be significantly smaller than the 9-A-7660 "Dagger" - the Russian hypersonic aviation complex, the carrier of which is the MiG-31 interceptors, which have undergone special modernization for this purpose.
MiG-31 with a Dagger missile system
Image source: RIA Novosti
In addition to the Su-57, other combat aircraft will receive new hypersonic weapons. This year it became known that the bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces will be able to use the promising X-95 complex. Among the carriers are called long-range bombers Tu-22M3M, "strategists" Tu-160M, as well as PAK DA (A promising long-range aviation complex). Prototypes of the rocket have already passed tests from an air carrier.
One of the most important Russian innovations (if not the most important) in this area was the hypersonic missile "Zircon", designed for surface ships and submarines of the Navy. This year the program has passed several important stages at once. In particular, the military conducted a salvo launch of "Zircons".
Even earlier it became known that during the tests the rocket was able to reach a speed of M = 8. The mass of the Zircon warhead is estimated at about 300-400 kilograms. The flight range exceeds a thousand kilometers.