Long-range Tu-22M3 and MiG-31k aircraft with the Dagger aviation complex arrived at the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Syria to participate in a naval exercise of the Navy's inter-fleet grouping in the eastern Mediterranean. This was reported on February 15 in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
It is noted that the crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces performed a flight from the points of deployment, having overcome more than 1.5 thousand km. During the exercise, the pilots will have to perform tasks according to their intended purpose.
As the Russian military department recalled, earlier in the Western media there was information that the Russian exercises in the Mediterranean Sea will be watched by aircraft carrier groups of NATO ships, including the aircraft carrier "Harry Truman" of the US Navy, the aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" of the French Navy and the aircraft carrier "Comte idi Cavour" of the Italian Navy, accompanied by strike ships and support vessels.
"In accordance with the training plan of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for 2022, a series of naval exercises are being held in January-February in all areas of responsibility of the fleets under the general leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov.
The main focus of the exercises is to work out the actions of the Navy and the Aerospace Forces to protect Russian national interests in the oceans, as well as to counter military threats to the Russian Federation from sea and ocean directions, the Defense Ministry said.
The ministry added that the exercises will cover the waters of the seas adjacent to the Russian territory, as well as operationally important areas of the World Ocean.
Air-based Dagger missiles are the newest type of strategic weapons. President Vladimir Putin spoke about them in a message to the Federal Assembly in 2018. In particular, then for the first time it was announced the development of Avangard complexes with hypersonic gliding blocks, heavy intercontinental missiles "Sarmat", cruise missiles "Burevestnik" with a nuclear power plant, laser complex "Peresvet".
The Dagger missiles can maneuver on the trajectory when performing a task and therefore their interception is extremely difficult. According to officials, intercepting a target flying at a speed of Mach 10 and maneuvering on a trajectory is an almost impossible task for today's air defense and missile defense systems.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry reported that live firing will take place on February 19 as part of the Russian-Belarusian exercises "Allied Determination". During the maneuvers, the Marine brigade, together with formations and military units of the Armed Forces of Belarus, will work out the tasks of conducting defensive combat and performing maneuvers in other directions.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin stressed that Russia and Belarus do not consider any state as a potential enemy during joint military exercises. The maneuvers are defensive in nature.
