Russia uses Hypersonic Missiles to attack Ukraine; Soil Ruined

On Thursday, Russia launched 81 missiles to attack multiple cities in Ukraine and 6 of them were hypersonic missiles, according to NPR. These hypersonic missiles, named Kinzhal or “Dagger” in Russian can accelerate to Mach 4 and may be capable of speeds of up to Mach 10, with a range of about 1,250 miles. These missiles also come with nuclear capabilities.

Kinzhal is not easy to detect with unpredictable course changes. So the opposite side is vulnerable when attacked by it. The Russian government also developed Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle that can fly up to Mach 27. Another high-tech-developed hypersonic missile developed by Russia could be a “game changer” in the war with Ukraine.

There is a debate between Mr. James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Mr. Glen VanHerck, the U.S. Northern Command Chief Air Force General, about the Kinzhal’s capacity and capability of the weapon itself. Mr. Acton said, “The Kinzhal is launched from an aircraft and has a shorter range than Avangard,” and last year he told the BBC, “I don’t know how much of an advantage Russia is  getting from using hypersonic missiles.” On the contrary, General VanHerck stood at the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee and said Russia was having “challenges with some of their hypersonic missiles as far as accuracy” in Ukraine.

Victor Cha, Former National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration said that the hypersonic missile system was developed by North Korea and needed to be sophisticated, and the U.S. missile system is “good”. He said that the hypersonic missile was “geared towards stopping a handful of fairly primitive missiles from North Korea.” to NPR.