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Apparently, President Vladimir Putin needs to find another “superweapon” that he will proclaim to the world as “unstoppable and indestructible.” He constantly claimed this about Kinžal’s supersonic missiles. But despite recent attacks on Ukrainian cities, defenders report that they are succeeding in destroying this pride of the Russian ruler.
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The Ukrainians shoot down Putin’s superweapon. But she should have escaped the Patriots. | Video: Reuters
Most recently, the commander of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhnyi, announced that after the attack on Kiev on January 2 this year, the air defense shot down all ten attacking Kinzhals. This missile was destroyed for the first time in early May last year. By now, the Ukrainians have probably already destroyed around 25 Kinžals, which, according to the Russians, are supposed to fly ten times faster than sound. But the Ukrainians claim that it is actually more than half less, or at most four times less.
In order to regularly show the attacker that their superweapon is not so great, they need a means of defense – the American Patriot mobile anti-aircraft missile system. “They can shoot down weapons like the Ch-47M2 Kinzhal, which is very good news for us,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told the Ukrainska Pravda daily. But Kinžal should escape the Patriots’ shots.
The MIM-104 Patriot system uses long-range surface-to-air missiles and enables the destruction of enemy tactical ballistic missiles, surface-to-air missiles and aircraft.
Despite the results of the Ukrainian Patriot operators, Ihnat said that Ukraine has few of these Western-supplied systems. “A few batteries are not enough,” Ihnat added. After the recent attacks on Kiev and Kharkiv in January, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleb called on the West to speed up and increase deliveries of air defense systems.
Putin first unveiled the Kinzhal missiles, also known as “KILLJOY,” in 2018. At the end of last year, almost two years after the start of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense determined the actual effectiveness of these weapons in combat was controversial, wrote the American Newsweek server.
“KILLJOY almost certainly had an embarrassing fighting debut. Many likely missed their intended targets, while Ukraine also managed to intercept attacks from this supposedly ‘invincible’ system,” the British said in the report. The stated range of the rocket is said to be 2000 kilometers and it should be able to carry out evasive maneuvers in flight. Kinžal is fired from strategic bombers or fighter aircraft. It is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
When Ukraine announced the shooting down of the first Kinzhal in May, the British ministry said the Russians were unlikely to tolerate it. “The Kinzhals’ apparent vulnerability is likely a surprise and a shame for Russia,” the ministry said at the time. This was confirmed in May. Russian authorities have charged the three scientists who developed Daggers with treason, without specifying why.
The accusation sparked a public outcry in the Russian scientific community that is rare by local standards. She argued that a possible conviction of the colleagues would cause serious damage to Russian science as such and could jeopardize the development of Russian weapons.
The Patriot missile system can simultaneously fire multiple types of missiles to suit the threat at hand. (December 15, 2022)
The Patriot missile system can simultaneously fire multiple types of missiles to suit the threat at hand. | Video: Aktuálně.cz/Youtube/Raytheon Technologies
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