What is a Kinzhal missile and why are they so dangerous?
Without a doubt, during wars, the opposing nations boast of their developments in terms of military technology, and we not only see the deployment of planes, helicopters and combat ships, but also of increasingly destructive and precise weapons, and in this regard, In the recent war on Ukrainian soil, Russia claims to have used the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile for the first time, which is considered to be the next generation of weapons.
A Kinzhal missile carried by a MiG-31K. Source: Wikipedia.com
According to media reports, the Kinzhal (Dagger) missile was used operationally for the first time in combat to destroy an underground weapons and ammunition depot in Ukraine. With which, Russia boasts of becoming the first nation to use a hypersonic weapon in combat.
Hypersonic missiles are weapons that reach a speed greater than five times the speed of sound, that is Mach 5, there are two types, gliders and cruisers.
Kinzhal missile speed. Source: Own elaboration, contains public domain images.
And, what is a Kinzhal missile?
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile is an air-launched ballistic missile, which is why it is launched from an aircraft, it has the capacity to transport 500 kg of conventional explosives, penetrators, or even a nuclear warhead, traveling at a speed of Mach 10, in addition , has the particularity that it can perform evasive maneuvers at different stages of its flight, which makes it a very difficult weapon to detect and stop.
This missile was developed by Russia and was put into service in 2017, although it was not presented to the world until 2018 in a military parade; is derived from a version of the 9k720 Iskander, a solid-fuel, single-stage supersonic ballistic missile that can be controlled from launch and throughout its travel, but the Iskander is launched from ground-based launchers, so it was adapted to be launched from aircraft and to achieve greater speed.
Mikoyan MiG-31K aircraft, a variant of the MiG-31 fighter-bomber aircraft that was adapted as a launch platform for this new class of missiles, are used to launch the Kinzhal.
Mikoyan MiG-31. Source: Wikipedia.org.
When the Kinzhal is launched from a Mig-31K, it has a claimed range of 2000 km with a flight ceiling of 20 km, however it can also be launched from Tupolev Tu-22M sea attack bombers, thereby increasing its maximum range of 3000 km.
The development of hypersonic weapons is really not recent, for example Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) developed to carry nuclear explosives can also reach hypersonic speeds, but weapons like the Kinzhal differ in one important respect, the ICBM follows a ballistic trajectory that involves a great ascent, including suborbital altitudes, to later descend, and in its descent phase it can reach hypersonic speeds, but precisely this trajectory makes them easy to detect and can be intercepted. But these new hypersonic missiles can move at lower altitudes and maneuver mid-flight, making them virtually unstoppable nuclear-capable weapons.
Although the Kinzhal is a ballistic missile, it is low-flying and variable trajectory. Source: own elaboration.
Undoubtedly, this type of weapon breaks all the schemes, since they combine a surprising speed and a variable trajectory, which makes it difficult to intercept them with current anti-aircraft systems, even only China and Russia had successfully tested this type of weapon. and Russia is now the first to use them, that puts them at an advantage since the rest of the powers do not have the defense mechanisms to stop them. But this only puts the foot on the gas in the arms race, as the US and UK are expected to accelerate the development of their own hypersonic weapons, a never-ending fight.
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