The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile was used for the first time in a strike against a weapons depot in western Ivano-Frankivsk region.
This is the first time that this weapon has been used, and it's not quite historic. Russia's Kinzhal is hypersonic, but it's not new.
There was an announcement followed by video of the strike.
—Middle East Update (@islamicworldupd) March 19, 2022
Hypersonic is a term used to describe platforms that can travel at speeds in excess of Mach 5, but the term has been used for advanced weapons systems being developed all around the world. The Kinzhal does travel at high speeds, but it is not a new weapon.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is a conventional air-launched missile with a design that dates back to the 1980's.
The United States is lagging behind Russia in a hypersonic arms race due to both intentional and less-than-intentional misconception about this new class of weapons.
There are new weapons that use hypersonic speeds to achieve objectives in a variety of ways. The Kinzhal is not among them.
Hypersonic flight has a cutting-edge meaning to it, and recent media coverage of these technologies has treated it like a science-fiction movie. Hypersonic platforms have been around for a long time, and you are almost certainly familiar with many of them.
At hypersonic speeds, air becomes the enemy as it impacts the vehicle, creating enough force to damage or even destroy most common aircraft and missiles.
The space shuttle averaged more than 15000 mph during its return. The X-37B can reach these speeds. Almost all of mankind's missiles and spaceships have been and still are hypersonic.
All of America's nukes, Russia's Kinzhal missiles, and even Musk's Falcon 9 rockets are all hypersonic.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal entered operational service in Russia. It is a modified version of the ground-launched 9K720 Iskander, a short-range missile, with a new guidance system.
Delays caused by the fall of the Soviet Union prevented the first flight test from taking place until 1998. Between 1998 and 2005 a total of 13 test launches of the missile were conducted at Russia's Kasputin Yar test range.
The Iskander missile is able to achieve hypersonic speeds through a quasi-ballistic flight path that never leaves the atmosphere, and it can maneuver throughout its trajectory to avoid being shot down.
The 9K720 Iskander and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal are capable missiles, but they're far from the cutting-edge technology that's often mentioned in discussions about hypersonic missiles.
The premise behind the Kinzhal missile is so dated that it shares a lot of similarities with a 2006 NASA effort to leverage the Navy's arsenal of retired AIM-54 Phoenix missiles for hypersonic flight testing.
When used as an air-to-air weapon, the AIM-54 Phoenix missile has a top speed of 4.3 Mach, which is less than the Kinzhal's 4.5 Mach.
NASA believed they could achieve hypersonic speeds greater than Mach 5 with the Phoenix missile by adjusting its flight trajectory and launching it at high speed.
Their goal was to study the nature of hypersonic flight and not to field an advanced weapon. Russia's Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is larger and has a more powerful solid-fuel rocket motor, but it works the same way.
In 1974 the US Air Force successfully launched an actual Minuteman I ICBM from the back of a C-5 cargo plane.
Because it is nearly impossible to distinguish between a nuclear missile and a conventionally armed one, there have been few attempts to field air-launched missiles.
When people talk about new hypersonic weapons, they usually mean one of two things: hypersonic glide vehicles or hypersonic cruise missiles.
In the early stages of their flight path, hypersonic glide vehicles are the same as long-range missiles. They are carried into the atmosphere via high-velocity rocket boosters, but not as high.
The glide vehicles use their control surfaces to manage their high-speed descent as they close in on their targets.
Russia's Avangard weapon system is said to have a hypersonic boost glide-vehicle in use. The America's Conventional Prompt Strike weapon and the China's DF-ZF anti-ship weapon are both in development.
Hypersonic cruise missiles use a scramjet to propel them. A scramjet, or supersonic combusting ramjet, is a variation on ramjet technology but allows the engine to run at supersonic speeds.
Because scramjets are only efficient at high speeds, they are often deployed from fast- moving aircraft or use a different form of propulsion in the first part of their flight path.
Hypersonic cruise missiles are similar to traditional cruise missiles in theory. They follow a more horizontal flight path than boost-glide vehicles or missiles and maneuver using control surfaces just like an aircraft.
No nation has successfully deployed a scramjet-powered weapon, despite the fact that these platforms are more difficult and expensive to build.
Russia's defense budget is around $60 billion per year, which puts them on equal footing with nations like the UK, even though they have a larger force. Russia was forced to make hard decisions about its meager budget.
Russia has decided to devote a lot of resources to convert its defense apparatus into a marketing machine for foreign weapons and equipment sales.
Russia's ability to update its military force has been limited by the nation's stagnant economy. Russia continues to fund the development of new weapons and systems in order to garner a lot of attention.
Russia can't afford to mass-produce advanced aircraft, like the Su-57 stealth fighter, without foreign interests footing the bill. Russia needs to show that it is capable of developing weapons that are comparable to those of the United States and China in order to get foreign buyers.
Russia is able to convey an image of a 21st century military power for a real bargain by taking advantage of the general public's misconception.
Russia hopes to get funding to develop and field advanced, cutting-edge tech by presenting the Kinzhal and other dated or poorly functioning weapons as advanced cutting-edge tech.
It's accurate to call the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal a hypersonic missile, even though it's technically correct. Modern hypersonic weapons like China's DF-ZF or America's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile are not part of the same class of weapons.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
