Did Ukraine shoot down a Kinzhal-type hypersonic weapon system?
Mark Cazalet
On May 5, 2023, Ukrainian specialized media Defense Express reported that Ukrainian forces managed to shoot down a Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic weapon system on May 4 at around 2:40 am over Kiev.
As evidence, Defense Express produced two photos that allegedly show missile debris from the wreck.
Defense Express showed a picture of the wreckage of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile, which Russia used to try and hit Kyiv on the night of May 4. If confirmed, it will be the first successful interception of this hypersonic missile.https://t.co/AP8bZA21wI pic.twitter.com/dEC3eDJxga
— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports)May 5, 2023
At the time of writing, the debris has not been confirmed to be a Kinzhal. However, some of the debris depicted appears to resemble the warhead assembly of a Kinzhal or possibly a 9M723 Iskander missile.
#Ukraine: Today, reports suggested that a Russian Kh-47M2 Khinzal air-launched ballistic missile was shot down by air defenses over#Kyivat 02:40 on May 4th- for the very first time.
The debris matches the unitary warhead assembly used in Kh-47M2 & Iskander-series missiles.pic.twitter.com/RjAcBQYEUN
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons)May 5, 2023
If confirmed, this would be the first successful Kinzhal kill. This has garnered a lot of attention, as many people are under the impression that being a hypersonic weapon, the Kinzhal is very difficult to shoot down. This has led defense experts to question how the interception succeeded and what means would be capable of such a takedown.
While the author advises caution in drawing conclusions until better evidence is available, he can at least explain how such an interception would be possible. However, in order to be able to explain this correctly, a short crash course in hypersonic and missile defense is required.
A crash course in hypersonic technology
There are many misconceptions about what hypersonic missiles are, how they work, and what they are capable of.
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