Russia’s new mysterious cruise missile has a range of more than 6,500km

(Dan Tri) – Moscow said that Russian long-range bombers will be equipped with new cruise missiles with a range of more than 6,500km.

Tu-160 bombers during a Russian military parade (Photo: AFP).

On September 16, TASS news agency quoted Russia’s long-range aviation commander, Lieutenant General Sergey Kobylash, as saying that the country’s new Kh-BD missile has a range of more than 6,500km.

During North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to an air base in the Far East on the same day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also said the Tu-160 bomber will be able to carry two sets of

According to Mr. Sidharth Kaushal of the British Royal Institute of Defense Research, Russia has been considering producing longer-range cruise missiles launched from the air for a long time.

Previous analysis showed that Moscow wanted to reform its strategic bomber fleet and the Tu-160 was returned to production in Russia with a new, upgraded version, the Tu-160M.

Experts are still skeptical about the true capabilities of this new cruise missile.

Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst at the Hague Center for Security Studies, said: `The range of this missile seems quite far. It requires the small propeller’s jet engine to have a quantum leap in quality.`

Mr. Kaushal added that this missile can be considered an extended-range version of the Russian Kh-101 missile.

According to Mr. Kaushal, with the range of air-launched cruise missiles that Moscow currently possesses, the Russian army is likely to be equipped with a longer-range version.

However, the Russian Defense Minister’s statement that a Tu-160 can carry 12 missiles is `hard to believe` because he believes that longer-range missiles would have to be larger than the 12 Kh-101s that Tu

Mr. Mertens of the Hag Center for Security Studies said that Russia is also unlikely to build many missiles of this type because they may not be able to carry heavy conventional warheads.

`With such a declared range, all space must be used for fuel, so the Russians will have to consider shrinking the warhead. Nuclear warheads will not need much space,` he said.

The expert further argued that it would probably be a stealthier missile than the cruise missiles that Russia is using and that Ukraine often shoots down with ease.

Russia has previously touted its air-launched Kinzhal, or `Dagger,` hypersonic missile as unstoppable, but reports from Ukraine indicate its air defenses have repeatedly intercepted the missile with