Moscow said Saturday it overnight bombed Ukrainian energy and military facilities with Kinjal – or Kinzhal – hypersonic missiles in retaliation, as it put it, for Ukrainian attacks on “civilian targets” in Russia.
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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, this “massive bombing” was a “response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks against civilian targets in Russia”.
How does the Kinjal missile work?
The first recorded use of the weapon in combat was in 2022. The missile’s name, kinjal, meaning “dagger” or “dagger” in Russian, reaches hypersonic speed and has a range of more than 1,500 km. Hypersonic missiles get their name because they can reach speeds up to five times the speed of sound.
When reaching 1,200 km/h, a high-speed object produces a sound wave, called a sonic boom. This is the speed of sound, called Mach 1. When you reach at least five times this value, Mach 5, you are facing an object that is moving at hypersonic speed.
The models developed by the Russians reach high altitudes and, because they are more maneuverable than conventional missiles, they are more difficult to intercept. President Vladimir Putin has even compared the scientific and technological advancements of these weapons to the creation of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, created by the Soviets in 1957. He describes these weapons as having an “unlimited” range.
Putin has emphasized in the past that his country is investing in hypersonic ballistic missiles, even though several armed powers such as the United States, Iran and China are also involved in the race for these weapons, capable of moving at astonishing speed.
Weapons that fly at speeds greater than the speed of sound are nothing new. The difference presented by hypersonic missile designs like the Kinjal is that they do not necessarily follow a predictable trajectory. Conventional missiles tend to follow a parabolic trajectory. The most recent models, for their part, thanks to the possibility of modifying their trajectory, are capable of avoiding anti-aircraft defenses.
Some observers see the risk that the high speed of new generation weapons and their unpredictable flight paths will lead to errors that could escalate conflicts, according to the Congressional Research Service. Others argue that hypersonic weapons do little to change the dynamic between the United States, Russia and China, which already have enough nuclear missiles to overwhelm enemy defenses.
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