Russia launches hypersonic missile on Ukraine

Russia escalated the Ukraine war by another notch when it launched a hypersonic missile on a Ukrainian weapons dump in what may be understood as a strong warning to the US-led NATO forces, reports Sanjib Kr Baruah for ETV Bharat.

New Delhi: In an unexpected escalation of the war in Ukraine and possibly the first time such a missile has been used in a real life war, Russia announced the use of the hypersonic missile ‘Kinzhal’ (‘dagger’ in Russian) or Kh-47M2 on Saturday.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday: “On March 18, the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region.” The Ivano-Frankivsk region is located in western Ukraine bordering Romania, a NATO member.

The use of the highly maneuverable ‘Kinzhal’ that travels at Mach 10 or ten times the speed of sound, which translates to an astounding 3.5 km per second, may be primarily meant as a warning to the arms and weapons consignments being sent by US-led NATO forces to aid Ukraine that are being sent in convoys and shipments.

It may also be construed as a message to the US-led NATO forces that Russia would go to considerable lengths to impose its will in war-torn Ukraine and would not step back from its stated aims even if it means an escalation of the war effort. Built to be used against surface and waterborne targets, the ‘Kinzhal’ high-precision aeroballistic air-to-ground missile system with a small radar signature is mounted on a MiG-31 upgraded interceptor jet and can strike at a range over 2,000 km without entering the enemy’s air defence zone.

According to Russian media, the first air unit equipped with the ‘Kinzhal’ system started test air alert flights to master fundamentals of its combat use since December 1, 2017. During its induction into the Russian military in March 2018, the Russian defence ministry had said: “Crews of the air system on the testing air alert sorties completed over 250 flights year-to-date under the combat training plan. The air staff has been trained in full scope day and night in various weather conditions.”

The US and the 30-member NATO are transporting a huge number of weapons and ammunition including shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) to Ukraine for the war that began with a Russian military foray into Ukraine on the dawn of February 24. The US weapon supplies to Ukraine that have already been shipped or are in the pipeline include 100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (‘Switchblade’ kamikaze drones), 800 US-made FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, 2,000 FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 6,000 AT4 anti-armour rockets launchers, and 1,000 M72 LAW light anti-armour weapons, 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, 400 shotguns, 20 million rounds of ammunition, 25,000 sets of body armour and helmets, etc.