Why is the Russian Kinzhal missile not a threat to Western aircraft carriers?

The deployment of MIG-31K armed with the Kinzhal missile, above the Black Sea, has been presented for several days by Russian propaganda as a direct threat against American and French aircraft carriers which are, or will be, deployed in the eastern Mediterranean in support for Israel. This hypothesis was taken up by several Western media. She is wrong. That's why :

On the night of October 16 to 17, 2023, the Russian air base of Berdyansk was hit by several Ukrainian missiles, leading to the destruction of around twenty helicopters of the Russian armed forces.

Located 120 km from the line of engagement, this base was, until then, out of range of Ukrainian artillery, including M39 rockets used by HIMARS systems delivered by the United States.

The Mig-31K and the Kinzhal missile in response to the arrival of ATACMS missiles in Ukraine

It quickly emerged that Kyiv had used ATACMS ballistic missiles delivered discreetly by Washington for the occasion. As was the case with the British Storm Shadow missiles, the announcement of the arrival of the ATACMS in Ukraine was not made public until after they had been employed for the first time, taking the defensive posture by course.

This strike obviously constituted a setback for the Russian armies, but also, in a way, a humiliation for the Kremlin which, in return, announced that from now on, heavy MIG-31K interceptors armed with Kinzhal airborne ballistic missiles would patrol the Black Sea.

Later, the Russian Air Force General Staff announced that now, the Kinzhal, with a range of 1000 km when dropped from a MIG-31, could be assigned new targets even though they are already in flight, under the airframe of the carrier aircraft.

This device, if proven, could allow the Russian air forces to carry out opportunistic strikes against Ukrainian targets identified, for example, by satellite, with a response time that is all the shorter as the Kinzhal has a hypersonic flight profile, although it cannot be called a hypersonic missile.

Characteristics of the Russian 9-S-7760 Kinzhal missile

Since then, Russian propaganda has taken up the subject, and continues to make Kinzhal the supreme weapon that it is not. More precisely, a number of Russian commentators on state channels, or guests of the sulphurous and very unreliable Soloviov, repeat to anyone who will listen, that these missiles could now strike Western aircraft carriers (American and French), which are or will be deployed off the Israeli and Lebanese coasts, in the eastern Mediterranean.

Unfortunately, the hypothesis is also repeated on Western channels, including, in France, on certain news channels, which are obviously very ill-informed.

Indeed, derived from the 9M723K1 short-range ballistic missile of the 9K720 Iskander-M system, the Kinzhal is a missile with a semi-ballistic trajectory designed to strike land and immobile targets.

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