In addition, the commander of the Air Force Sergei Dronov noted that long-range aviation is armed with strategic bombers Tu-160 and Tu-95MS
MOSCOW, August 12. /tass/. The regiment with the Dagger aviation missile system on MiG-31I aircraft, which became part of the long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2021, is successfully used during a special military operation in Ukraine. This was stated by the commander of the Air Force - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Sergei Dronov, in an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, published on Friday.
"Last year, a regiment with the Dagger aviation missile system on MiG-31I aircraft joined the long-range aviation. And at the moment it is successfully used during a special military operation," he said.
In addition, the commander clarified that strategic bombers Tu-160 and Tu-95MS, as well as a long-range bomber Tu-22M3, are currently in service with long-range aviation. Now these planes are being upgraded, new equipment is being installed on them, new more accurate weapons.
The Dagger is the newest Russian complex with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles carried by specially equipped MiG-31K/MiG-31I interceptors. The Dagger missile has low radar visibility and high maneuverability and is designed to destroy land and sea targets. The speed of the rocket is 10 times the speed of sound, the range is more than 2 thousand km. The rocket maneuvers in all sections of the trajectory, which allows it to overcome all air and missile defense systems; it is equipped with conventional and nuclear warheads. The mass of the warhead is 500 kg.
The Dagger complexes have been on experimental combat duty in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation since December 2017. Officially, the first combat use of these missiles took place on March 18, 2022 during a military operation in Ukraine.
