Even if the missiles are as advanced as Vladimir Putin says, they are unlikely to change the course of the war
, Russia’s president, unveiled the Kinzhal missile in 2018, he called it an “invincible” weapon and lauded its “hypersonic” capabilities. Now Russia claims to have unleashed it in Ukraine. If those claims are true, it would be the first time that hypersonic missiles have been used in a conflict. On March 19th Russian forces said they had used one to destroy a store of ammunition in western Ukraine. A day later they said another such missile had blown up a fuel depot near Mykolaiv, in the south.
Both kinds pose a serious challenge to missile defences. Their speed gives adversaries less time to respond. Their manoeuvrability makes them harder to intercept. And the unpredictable trajectory for most of their flight allows them to hold a huge area at risk. They can even switch target mid-course. It could be mere seconds between the time the target is known for certain and the moment of impact.
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