Russia's Deployment of Hypersonic Missiles in Kiev Attack

The hypersonic missiles Zircon, probably used this morning by Russia for an attack on Kiev, are one of the two types, along with the Kinzhal, available to Moscow's forces and one of the new strategic weapons announced by Vladimir Putin since 2018. Both Russian vectors have been used for the first time on the battlefield in the conflict in Ukraine. So far, only Russia has these weapons at its disposal, which are still in the experimental phase in the USA. The hypersonic missiles, as those capable of exceeding the speed of sound by at least five times are defined, are highly maneuverable and very difficult to intercept for air defenses. The Kinzhal ("dagger" in Russian) was developed first, starting in the 2010s, and was launched for the first time experimentally in 2017. It has an estimated range of almost 500 kilometers and can reach a speed ten times greater than that of sound. It can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads and is launched from Tu-22M3 bombers, Mig-31K or modified Su-34 fighters. At the end of 2021, Russia announced that it had deployed the first fleet of Migs equipped with this type of missiles at the Akhtubinsk airport in the south of the country, with the aim of protecting the Black Sea area. The Zircon missile (from the metal zirconium) can be launched from ships or submarines and can hit up to 1,000 kilometers away. It too can carry atomic or conventional warheads and reach a speed nine times greater than that of sound. Until last year these vectors were only embarked on the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, but in 2023 Putin announced that Russia had started a massive supply to its naval forces. In August, Alexei Rakhmanov, head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, the largest Russian shipowner, said that soon the Yasen-class submarines, built to replace the old Soviet submarines, would be equipped with these vectors. Russia used six new-concept hypersonic Zircon missiles in the attack that this morning targeted Kiev. This was revealed by the specialized site Defence Blog, highlighting how it is a calculated move by the Kremlin as it coincides with the anniversary of the Ukrainian security services (Sbu). The warhead of one of the downed missiles was found in a residential building. According to the site, the 3M22 Zirkon hypersonic missiles were launched from ground systems located in Crimea. According to other sources, they were launched instead by submarines. These missiles, weighing about four tons and able to travel at a speed of over seven times that of sound (4,000-9,000 kilometers per hour, from mach 4 to mach 8), represent a very difficult challenge for air defense systems. The vector, in fact, hit Kiev only 10 seconds after the activation of the alarm sirens, making it virtually impossible for civilians to take shelter in the shelters. It is estimated that this type of missiles takes 5-6 minutes to reach the Ukrainian capital from Crimea. "The use of such an advanced weapon today in Kiev, hypersonic, uninterceptable and weighing a full four tons is evidently a show of strength that wants to crush diplomacy," commented Mario Scaramella, consultant to the agency for the national emergency management of Ukraine, speaking of a "Star Wars" scenario. "I fear that Moscow is directly threatening us and is refining tactics to launch uninterceptable and unconventional warheads," he adds, noting that "Moscow's threat is increasingly violent and unpredictable."