He said: “This missile would easily outrange any American – or other NATO – air-to-air missile.
“Reports are that the size would put it into the category of a very long range air to air missile (VLRAAM) with ranges exceeding 186 miles, likely max out between 250 and 310 miles.’
“Additionally, the VLRAAM’s powerful rocket engine will push it to Mach 6 speeds, which will increase the no escape zone (NEZ), that is the area where a target cannot outrun the missile, against even supersonic targets like stealth fighters.”
With a new radar system, missile is also understood to have a thrust boost to supplement its maneuverability.
Last year a Chinese scientific journal reported that once fired by a fighter jet, a VLRAAM could fly 15km upwards to a 30km altitude before it is guided by long range radars to hurtle at hypersonic aircraft into stealth bombers and fighter jets to destroy them.
The news has emerged just days after top military chiefs revealed the Kremlin was deploying much-feared Iskander and S-400 long-range missile defense systems deep inside Europe.
Iskander missiles are nuclear-capable and the deployment to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad puts vast swathes of Europe in the crosshairs of Moscow’s short-range ballistic missile programme.
With a range of roughly 300 miles, the Iskander missile could hit targets as far away as Berlin, Poland and Sweden with an atomic warhead.
Dubbed the ‘Growler’ by NATO, the S-400 is an anti-aircraft missile system that can cover short and long-range targets.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty.
Confirmation of the antagonistic move by Vladimir Putin’s administration came from the head of the defense committee in the Russian upper house of parliament.
Viktor Ozerov told Russian news agency RIA the government saw the deployment of its missiles near the western border as a response to Washington setting up a US missile shield in Europe.
(via: Express UK)
