The intelligence community of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain considers the statement of the president of the russian federation vladimir putin about the patrolling of the Black Sea by carriers of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as an attempt to show the russian military power. This is stated in the text of the daily review from military intelligence analysts of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom.
As British intelligence recalls, putin announced during his visit to China on October 18 that russia would begin fighter patrols in the eastern part of the Black Sea using MiG-31I aircraft armed with Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles.
At that time, the russian president referred to the strengthening of the US naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean by ships with weapons systems with a declared range of up to 2,000 kilometers.
"This statement corresponds to typical russian rhetoric aimed at a domestic audience, which calls the West an aggressor and presents russia's actions as necessary to protect the state," the review notes.
British intelligence indicates that putin separately emphasized the presence of Kinzhal missiles and their declared capabilities at MiG-31.
This was "almost certainly" done as a "strategic message" to show that russia can continue to produce and operate new weapons despite the war against Ukraine. At the same time, Kinzhal missiles are actually still at the stage of operational tests, and their effectiveness in Ukraine has been low so far.
"On paper, it (Kinzhal - ed.) remains very powerful, capable of reaching hypersonic speeds and avoiding modern air defense systems, although it almost certainly needs significant improvement in how russia uses it to realize this potential," the British intelligence concludes.
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