Russia’s “unstoppable” hypersonic Kinzhal missile which can travel so fast that no radar can detect it has been shot down by the US’s Patriot missiles defence system in Kyiv.
In January Vladimir Putin said these missiles are “truly unparalleled … in the world” and the Russian Defence Ministry’s own channel, TV Zvezda said claimed the enemy will only realise once “the target has been hit.”
They claim that the “speed of the hypersonic missile is so high that it prevents the opponent’s air defence system from detecting its impact in time.”
“In fact, its launch will be known only after the target has been hit.”
The “unstoppable” missile was “downed” by the US’s Patriot system which will be a “big deal” for Putin and an embarrassment for Kremlin chiefs and the Russian Defence Minister.
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The Kinzhal is an hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile which can travel at Mach 10 speed. The missile can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads which can be launched by either a Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors.
Almost as big as @Vitaliy_Klychko – Kyivs mayor is proud that the military was capable of shooting down the #kinshal rocket in his city: „Through the Patriot systems, we have now been able to show what is possible with modern defense systems. This air defense makes our lives… pic.twitter.com/o2hsCc8ELg
— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) May 10, 2023
The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a few months ago that the American Patriot missile defence system will “definitely” be a legitimate target.
Speaking to the Insider, Tom Karako, director of the missile defence project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the downing the Kinzhal hyposonic missile is “impressive” which is a “big deal.”
Karoka added, “nothing is unstoppable,” then said, “maybe everybody can take a lesson away from this.”
He continued, “There’s probably a whole lot of claims about unstoppability and exotic kind of stuff, but it turns out American hardware, including American air and missile defence hardware, is pretty good.”
However Moscow has rejected that their missile was shot down and called it “wishful thinking” and said due to the technical characteristics the Patriot cannot down the Kinzhal.
🇷🇺🇺🇦The hypersonic Kinzhal / Dagger, which was allegedly shot down by the Ukronazis from the Patriot air defense system, and Pentagon representatives confirmed this, turned out to be a concrete-piercing BetAB-500SHP aerial bomb.https://t.co/Qvz5GmHlt9 pic.twitter.com/f1Psn1jXiy
— Sinnaig (@Sinnaig) May 10, 2023
A senior source in the Russian Ministry of Defence told Ria Novosti, “The flight speed of the Kinzhal missile exceeds the maximum combat modes of anti-aircraft missile systems supplied by the West to the Kyiv regime, including the Patriot.”
However the Ukrainian Air Force said, that “Ukraine’s air defenders shot down Kinzhal, a hypersonic aeroballistic Russian missile, for the first time since the attacks began.
“This was done by operators of the Patriot air defense system.”
