Russia uses the Kinzhal hypersonic missile in the Ukraine war. Moscow has reported using the ballistic missile fired by a Mig31K to hit an underground ammunition depot in Delyatin in Ukraine’s IvanoFrankovsk region, near the border with Romania, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.
The Kinzhal missile (designed as an Iskander to be loaded onto an aircraft) is a system capable of being armed with both conventional and nuclear warheads and capable of breaching missile defenses that Ukraine does not have, making the attack a demonstration only, under threat of escalation to verify everything.
The “Dagger” is part of the new group of hypersonic systems developed in Russia (alongside the Avangard ICBM and the Tskinkal cruise missile). Hypersonic technology is considered advanced in this country.
Kinzhal has a range of 2,000 kilometers, when launched from a Mig (3,000 from a Tu22M3), it can reach speeds of Mach10 (12,000 kilometers per hour) and follows an unpredictable trajectory. “Its role in nonnuclear deterrence is in the early stages of escalation. However, it is primarily intended as a nuclear weapon,” according to a recent article by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.