UK intelligence explains why Russia wants to deploy hypersonic missiles over Black Sea

UK Defence Intelligence considers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement about the patrolling of the Black Sea by carriers of Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles as an attempt to show Russian military power.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review on Twitter (X) on 21 October, as reported by European Pravda. 

Details: UK intelligence noted that Putin, while on his visit to China on 18 October, announced that Russian MiG-31I fighter jets with Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles would begin patrolling the airspace over the Black Sea.

At that time, the Russian president said such actions would be taken due to the strengthening of the US naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, where they have deployed ships with weapons systems with a declared range of up to 2,000 kilometres.

Quote: "This announcement is in line with typical Russian rhetoric aimed at its domestic audience, calling the West aggressors whilst framing Russian activity as necessary for protection of the state," UK intelligence noted.

UK intelligence indicated that Putin separately emphasised the presence of MiG-31 jets with Kinzhal missiles and their declared capabilities.

This was "almost certainly" done for "strategic messaging purposes" to show that Russia can continue to produce and operate new weapons despite the war against Ukraine, while Kinzhal missiles are actually still being tested, and their effectiveness in Ukraine has so far been low.

"It [Kinzhal missiles – ed.] remains highly capable on paper, able to fly at hypersonic speeds and evade modern air defence systems, although there almost certainly needs to be significant improvement in how Russia uses it to achieve this potential," UK intelligence concluded.

Background: Ukraine’s Air Force previously reported that President Vladimir Putin’s threats about Russian MiG-31K fighter jets patrolling the airspace over the Black Sea may be aimed at increasing tension, but they do not radically change anything for the Defence Forces of Ukraine.

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