How many Kh-47M Kinzhal hypersonic missiles does Russia produce per month?

Russia has reportedly increased production of the Kh-47M Kinzhal hypersonic missile. In May, Russia was said to have 80 missiles. That number increased from 50 units in January.

That is, for three months in February, March and April, Russia produced 10 missiles each month.

If this information is correct, it means that there has been a very significant increase in production of the Kh-47M Kinzhal. This is because Russia was previously only able to produce two missiles per month.

Deeper manufacturing capabilities

However, increasing kengal production is entirely possible. This is due to many reasons.

First, factories multiply their productive power in wartime. Secondly, over the years Russia has produced several 9M723 missiles that are launched from the Iskander ballistic missile system. Therefore, these systems enter service quickly because they have ready-made missiles produced in the past two decades. Thus, the production of Kinjal missiles has become a priority at the expense of 9M723.

There is a third fact, which is the MiG-31. Russia has a large number of these interceptors. That is, Russia can quickly and continuously deliver MiG-31s, and it requires arming them with Kinjal missiles. It is said that just over 500 MiG-31 interceptors were produced. At least half of the stocks in Russia. However, it remains unclear how many of them are operationally ready or usable.

In relation to the Kh-47M Kinzhal (or “Dagger”), the air-to-surface missile can be equipped with conventional or nuclear warheads. The attack range of this missile is more than 2,000 km.

This hypersonic missile is designed to fly at more than ten times the speed of sound (Mach 10) or about 12,300 km per hour.

The Kh-47M Kinzhal’s impressive speed and maneuverability made it extremely difficult to track and shoot down.

Russia claims that the Kh-47M Kinzhal missile system being launched from MiG-31Ks or Tu-22M3 bombers cannot be stopped by existing Ukrainian or Western air defense weapon systems.

However, during the Russian attack on May 16, 2023, Ukraine claimed to have shot down six Kh-47M Kinzhal missiles using the Patriot missile system.

But Russia denied this statement.