It Was The Matter Of When, Not If.

A rather bland news about what was expected from the inception. As TASS reports:

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The trials of the Kinzhal hypersonic complex aboard the Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bomber are needed to check the aircraft’s ability to boost the complex’s missiles, former Commander of Russia’s Long-Range Aviation Mikhail Oparin told TASS on Monday.

TU-22M3 are slanted for further upgrades (with new avionics suites) and most are already capable of carrying deadly Kh-32 (X-32) Mach=4.2+ capable missiles with the range of 1000 kilometers. The idea to couple Mach=1.8 capable TU-22M3 with Kinzhal, which is required to be accelerated prior to launch to high supersonic speed, is only natural and that this type of coupling would be tried was never in doubt. Now it is official and it adds to a potential salvo of what is undeniably a missile which can not be intercepted by any existing weapon systems. 

If Putin and Trump fail to reach at least some agreement on INF Treaty and the US will proceed with deployment of whatever will emerge as a heir to MGM-31 Pershing in Poland and Romania and any other NATO's Eastern European vassals, additional Kinzhals most likely will serve as a serious deterrent which will be coupled with new air-defenses of S-500 kind. I think this issue most likely will be discussed in Helsinki on July 16th and hopefully some kind of understanding will be reached.   

The Tu-22M3 aircraft "suits perfectly" for Kinzhal hypersonic missiles’ trials by its mass and volume characteristics, he said.


More:
http://tass.com/defense/1011683