The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) has acquired the Kh-31 supersonic air-to-surface missiles expected to be paired with the recently acquired MiG-29M/M2 fulcrum multirole fighter jets.
According to the photos released on October 19, the photos shows EAF personnel in front of a two-seat MiG-29M2 with two Kh-31 missiles close by.
It has not been ascertained whether the Egyptian Air Force Kh-31 (AS-17 ‘Krypton’) are the anti-ship variant (Kh-31AD) or the anti-radiation variant (Kh-31PD) designed to target long- and medium-range radar systems.
Notably, the Kh-31 (Russian: Х-31; AS-17 ‘Krypton’) is a Russian-made supersonic air-to-surface missile capable of Mach 3.5.
The Kh-31 is the first supersonic anti-ship missile that can be launched by tactical aircraft such as the Mig-29 Fulcrum and the Su-27 Flanker. They have a range of up to 250 km when launched from a high altitude.
There are several variants, Kh-31 is best known as an anti-radiation missile (ARM) though there are also anti-shipping and target drone versions.
