Russia's Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile Is Capable Of Traveling At 5 Times The Speed Of Sound And Can Evade Air Defense Systems

Russian fighter plane carrying the Kinzhal missile (Photo via @anadoluagency)

JAKARTA - The onslaught of Russian military forces into Ukraine is getting more intense. The Kremlin began to release their secret weapons that had been hidden for so long. One of them is the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

Russia used its new Kinzhal hypersonic missile for the first time in Ukraine on Friday 18 March local time. The Kinzhal missile succeeded in destroying weapons storage areas in the west of the country, the defense ministry said as quoted by Channel News Asia, Saturday 19 March.

Russia has never admitted to using high-precision weapons in combat. And this was the first use of the Kinzhal hypersonic weapon during the conflict in pro-Western Ukraine.

"The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region," the Russian defense ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Kinzhal missile an ideal weapon capable of flying at 10 times the speed of sound. This speed can escape the air defense system.

The Kinzhal missile was one of a series of new weapons that Putin unveiled in his State of the Union address in 2018.

Russia prides itself on its sophisticated arsenal, and President Vladimir Putin said in December that Russia is a global leader in hypersonic missiles, whose speed, maneuverability and altitude make them difficult to track and intercept.

Gathered from a variety of sources, hypersonic missiles can fly in the upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound. With such a speed, let alone its ability to be more maneuverable than conventional missiles, it is not surprising that this missile is able to avoid interception from air defenses.

Russia's defense ministry said the missiles were used to target the arsenal in Ukraine and were capable of hitting targets at a range of more than 2,000 km (1,242 miles).

Last year, Russia claimed it had successfully test-fired a hypersonic missile from a frigate in the White Sea off its northwest coast.

Apart from Russia, China, the US, and at least five other countries are actually working on hypersonic missile technology like this.