Russia on Thursday relocated three warplanes equipped with hypersonic missiles to its exclave of Kaliningrad on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Wedged between EU and NATO members Lithuania and Poland that have firmly backed Ukraine in the conflict with Moscow, the heavily militarised region of Kaliningrad does not share a land border with Russia.

On Thursday, "three Mig-31i aircraft with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were relocated to the Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad region," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.

It said that they will be on "round-the-clock combat duty".

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unveiled the Kinzhal missile in 2018, has termed it "an ideal weapon" that flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it extremely difficult for missile defences to intercept.

Russia in June clashed with Lithuania after Vilnius banned the rail transit of sanctioned goods from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad.

The EU, however, said Lithuanian must allow Russian goods to transit with the exception of weapons.

Seized by the Red Army from Germany in the closing stages of World War II, Kaliningrad was separated from the Russian mainland following the break-up of the Soviet Union when Lithuania became an independent state.

Related Links
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Northrop Grumman identifies modern threats during advanced missile flight test
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 26, 2022
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully completed the third captive flight test of its prototype missile development series. The internally funded air-launched missile demonstrates capabilities relevant for multiple services, missions and platforms. Completed at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, the internally funded test successfully validated the capability to identify and discriminate modern, integrated air defense systems and successfully tracked the intended ... read more