Global Courant 2023-05-06 16:10:55
An air-launched ballistic missile capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 10 can carry nuclear or conventional warheads.
Ukraine says it downed a Russian hypersonic missile over the capital Kiev using a newly acquired US Patriot defense system in what would be a first in its ability to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern weapons.
The Kinzhal missile is one of the newest and most advanced Russian weapons. The military says the air-launched ballistic missile has a range of up to 2,000 km (1,250 mi) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.
Combining hypersonic speed and a heavy warhead, the Kinzhal can destroy heavily fortified targets, such as underground bunkers or mountain tunnels.
“I congratulate the Ukrainian people on this historic event. Yes, we shot down the “unique” Kinzhal,” Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram message on Saturday. “It happened during the May 4 night attack in the skies of the Kiev region.”
As far as is known, it was the first time that Ukraine used the Patriot missile defense system.
Oleshchuk said the Kh-47 was launched by a MiG-31K aircraft from Russian territory and shot down by a single Patriot missile. The Ukrainian army has previously admitted that it has no means to intercept the supersonic weapon.
The Kinzhal, meaning “dagger” in Russian, is one of six “next generation” weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when the Russian leader bragged that it cannot be shot down by any of the world’s air defense systems.
The air-launched ballistic missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,350 kilometers per hour) and can carry nuclear or conventional warheads.
‘A dream’
Thursday’s airstrike came a day after Russia accused Ukraine of a failed attempt to assassinate Putin in a drone strike on the Moscow Kremlin citadel and threatened retaliation.
Moscow has since accused Washington of involvement in allegations denied by both Ukraine and the United States.
Ukraine received the first delivery of the Patriot missiles at the end of April. It has not specified how many of the systems it has or where they have been deployed, but is known to have been supplied by the US, Germany and the Netherlands.
Germany and the US have acknowledged sending at least one system, and the Netherlands has said it has provided two, although it’s not clear how many are currently in use.
Ukrainian forces have received the extensive training necessary to effectively locate a target with the systems, engage with radar and fire. Each battery requires up to 90 personnel to operate and maintain.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he first requested Patriot systems when he visited the US in August 2021, months before Russia’s full-scale invasion but seven years after Moscow illegally took Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. annexed.
He has described owning the system as “a dream”, but said he was told by US officials at the time it was impossible.
Failed raids
The Patriot was first used by the US in the 1980s. The system costs about $4 million per rocket, according to analysts, and the launchers cost $10 million each.
At such a cost, it was widely believed that Ukraine would only use the Patriots against Russian aircraft or hypersonic missiles.
The Patriot system is one of a series of advanced air defense units supplied by the West to help Ukraine fend off a months-long Russian campaign of airstrikes targeting critical infrastructure, energy facilities and other locations.
Hundreds of civilians have died in Russia’s pre-winter attacks in October. The raids failed to cripple the power grid, but caused extensive power cuts and other disruptions. Russia denies attacking civilians.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday it had shot down eight Iranian Shahed-136 drones launched by Russia on the eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine in a night strike.
