Russia has to begin trials in 2022 of a new small hypersonic missile designed in the framework of Ostrota R&D. The new weapon will make the aircraft a part of Russian non-nuclear deterrence, the Izvestia daily writes quoting Defense Ministry sources.
The new missile will be fired by supersonic Tu-22M3 and frontline Su-34 bombers, the sources said. The design schedule obtained by the daily sets the flight trials for 2022. The Bereznyak Raduga Machine-Building Design Bureau (GosMKB) of Tactical Missile Corporation is engaged in Ostrota R&D. A ramjet has been created for the new missile by Soyuz Turaev Machine-Building Design Bureau.
In February 2020, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said hypersonic missiles would be the backbone of Russian non-nuclear deterrence. He held a meeting on additional procurement of the weapon and long-range precision missiles.