One of the latest generation of Russian secret weapons is the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, used for the first time in the Ukrainian conflict to destroy an underground ammunition depot in the west of the country. It is able to reach high speeds and thus avoid the enemy anti-aircraft.
Hypersonic missiles, faster than supersonic missiles because they are able to exceed the speed of sound by at least five times (called Mach 1), represent one of the areas of greatest development of the war industry. They are, in fact, maneuverable and precise like cruise missiles, but equipped with the speed and great destructive capacity of ballistic missiles.
Developed in the 2010s and launched on an experimental basis for the first time in 2018, the Kinzhal was designed to hit aircraft carriers and cruisers, but is evidently also effective for land targets. Among the strengths of the weapon is the high speed it can reach, estimated in the vicinity of the target between 10,620 and 12,250 km / h (Mach 10), with the possibility of carrying out evasive maneuvers that allow to evade the counter-offensive. About nine meters long with a diameter of one meter, it has a maximum range between 1500 and 2000 km. It has a launch weight of about 4,300 kilos and can have different types of warhead: conventional, thermonuclear and thermobaric.
It is a missile that can be airborne by specially modified Mig. Russia announced in December 2021 that it had deployed the first fleet of Mig equipped with Kinzhal missiles at Akhtubinsk airport, in the south of the country, with the aim of protecting the Black Sea area. Mach 20 speed, thanks to the development of new materials that withstand the very high temperatures reached during flight. Russia and China, but also North Korea, are pushing on their development to evade the latest generation anti-missile systems made by the United States and restore the balance in nuclear deterrence.
Source: Ansa
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