Russia tests new Hypersonic Missile on Tu-22M3M Bomber

Russia has tested a new hypersonic missile designed to arm its modified Tu-22M3M strategic bomber aircraft.

"Recently, a new hypersonic missile was tested on the Tu-22M3. The missile will be part of the armament range of the upgraded Tu-22M3M along with a number of other latest aviation weapons," a source was quoted as saying by TASS on Monday.

Russia plans to complete tests of the missile and bomber-upgrade together. Work on the new missile reportedly began several years ago.

“It does not belong to the line of X-32 missiles. The new missile is completely different,” the source added, without divulging any further details.

The X-32 (Kh-32) is a supersonic air-launched cruise missile with a range of 600-1000km. The Russian forces began arming their Tu-22M3M aircraft with X-32s in 2016.

Russia has two other hypersonic missiles for its warplanes: Kinzhal, and another one for its Su-57 fighter.

TASS was unable to verify the credibility of the information provided by the source at the time of publication.