In the annals of modern warfare, few weapons have arrived with as much hype and foreboding as the hypersonic missile. Touted by the Kremlin as a revolutionary, game-changing system capable of piercing any existing defense, these weapons were meant to be the ultimate symbol of Russian military resurgence. Their deployment in the ongoing war in Ukraine was not just a tactical decision; it was a global statement. Yet, the reality of their use has been far more complex, revealing a story not just of raw power, but of strategic messaging, technological limitations, and the resilient, adaptive nature of modern defense.
This is the story of Russia’s hypersonic missiles in Ukraine: a tale of terrifying speed, sobering realities, and the profound lessons being written in the skies over a war-torn nation.
The Trinity of Terror: Meet Russia’s Hypersonic Arsenal
Before delving into their battlefield impact, it’s crucial to understand the three distinct systems Russia has unveiled, each with its own unique capabilities and propaganda weight.
1. The Kinzhal (Kh-47M2 “Dagger”): The Spearhead of Propaganda
The most frequently used and publicly touted system is the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. Often described as an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM), the Kinzhal is essentially a modified version of the ground-launched Iskander short-range ballistic missile, adapted to be carried by specific aircraft like the MiG-31K Foxhound interceptor.
- Capabilities: Launched from high altitude at supersonic speeds, the Kinzhal is designed to accelerate to hypersonic velocities (Mach 5+ – over 3,800 mph) on its descent towards the target. It can perform evasive maneuvers throughout its flight, making it a challenging target for traditional air defense systems designed to intercept ballistic missiles on a predictable parabolic trajectory. With a reported range of up to 2,000 km (when air-launched) and the ability to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, it presents a significant long-range strike threat.
2. The Avangard: The Strategic Game-Changer
The Avangard is a different beast altogether. This is a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). It is launched atop a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), like the SS-19 Stiletto, but instead of following a traditional ballistic path, it separates from the rocket booster in the upper atmosphere and glides to its target at hypersonic speeds.
- Capabilities: This gliding phase is what makes the Avangard so formidable. It can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 20 (over 15,000 mph) and perform extreme, unpredictable maneuvers—”zigzagging” as it descends—making it virtually impossible for current missile defense systems to track and intercept. Crucially, the Avangard is explicitly designed as a strategic nuclear delivery system, intended to ensure Russia’s second-strike capability by defeating U.S. missile shields. While its existence is a major geopolitical factor, it is not believed to have been used in Ukraine, as it is reserved for strategic, nuclear-level conflicts.
3. The Zircon (3M22 Tsirkon): The Naval Enigma
The 3M22 Zircon is an anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile. Unlike ballistic-based systems, a cruise missile is powered throughout its flight. The Zircon is a scramjet-powered vehicle, meaning it uses its own incredible speed to compress incoming air and mix it with fuel to sustain hypersonic flight at low altitudes.
- Capabilities: Designed to be launched from ships and submarines, the Zircon represents a massive threat to naval assets, particularly aircraft carriers. Flying at Mach 9 at sea-skimming altitudes, it would give enemy fleets mere seconds to react. Its deployment has been announced with great fanfare, but confirmed combat use in Ukraine remains ambiguous and unverified, with many analysts believing it is not yet fully operational in significant numbers.
The Battlefield Debut: Shock, Awe, and Strategic Messaging
Russia’s first use of the Kinzhal missile in March 2022 was a moment of high drama. The target was a weapons depot in Deliatyn, western Ukraine, buried deep inside a mountain. The message was clear: There is nowhere to hide. Our most advanced weapons can reach you anywhere.
This initial use was less about the tactical necessity of destroying a single warehouse and more about strategic psychological warfare. It was designed to achieve several objectives:
- Demonstrate Technological Prowess: To both a domestic and international audience, Putin aimed to showcase Russia as a high-tech military power, countering the narrative of a lumbering, inefficient force that was emerging in the war’s early days.
- Test NATO Resolve: By using a weapon that NATO countries had no proven defense against, Russia was probing the West’s response and attempting to create a sense of vulnerability.
- Break Ukrainian Morale: The intent was to signal that Ukrainian airspace was not just contested, but utterly permeable to Russia’s will.
In the months that followed, Kinzhal strikes became a tool for high-value targets. They were used against command centers, energy infrastructure, and weapons storage sites. Each launch was accompanied by triumphant reports on Russian state media, reinforcing the myth of the missile’s invincibility.
The Sobering Reality: Interceptions and Limitations
The most significant development in the hypersonic narrative came in May 2023. In a stunning announcement, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk claimed that Ukraine had successfully shot down a Kinzhal missile over Kyiv. The weapon responsible was the American-made Patriot air defense system.
This event, later confirmed by U.S. officials, was a watershed moment. It punctured the carefully crafted aura of invincibility around the Kinzhal and revealed critical truths:
- It’s Not Unstoppable: The Patriot system, particularly its PAC-3 MSE interceptor, proved that with advanced radar, sophisticated tracking, and a fast enough interceptor missile, even a maneuvering hypersonic target can be engaged and destroyed. This suggests that while the kinematic challenge is immense, it is not insurmountable for modern, layered air defense networks.
- The Cost Imbalance: This revelation exposed a profound economic asymmetry. A single Kinzhal missile is estimated to cost around $10-15 million. A Patriot interceptor missile costs approximately $4 million. For Ukraine and its allies, expending a Patriot to kill a Kinzhal is a net win—they are trading a defensive asset to destroy a high-value, scarce offensive one. For Russia, it’s a ruinously expensive failure.
- Questions of Capability: The successful intercepts raised questions about the Kinzhal’s true capabilities. Some analysts speculate that its maneuverability might be more limited than advertised, or that its flight profile might make it vulnerable at certain points in its trajectory. It may be a potent weapon, but it is not a magical one.
Beyond interceptability, the war has exposed other limitations of Russia’s hypersonic arsenal:
- Limited Inventory: These are complex, expensive weapons. Russia does not have an infinite supply. Their use has been sporadic, suggesting they are being husbanded for high-profile strikes rather than used for routine operations.
- Platform Vulnerability: The Kinzhal requires a specific and limited number of MiG-31K aircraft to launch it. These aircraft must fly to a certain point to release the missile, making them potential targets themselves if Ukraine had the means to threaten them deep inside Russian airspace.
- Questionable Targeting: There is significant evidence that Russia has often used these precision-guided marvels against targets of dubious military value, a testament to the poor intelligence and operational planning that has plagued its campaign.
The Broader Impact: Lessons for the World
The employment of hypersonic weapons in a peer-to-peer conflict is providing the world’s militaries with invaluable, real-world data. The lessons are being studied intently in Pentagon meeting rooms and beyond.
- Air Defense is Back, and It’s Evolving: The war has unequivocally proven that air defense is not obsolete. In fact, it is more critical than ever. The success of systems like Patriot, IRIS-T, and SAMP/T against a variety of threats is driving a global reassessment of military spending. The future lies in integrated, multi-layered networks that can handle everything from drones to hypersonic missiles.
- The Psychological Dimension is Paramount: The value of a weapon like the Kinzhal is as much about perception as it is about physics. Its power to terrify and demoralize is a key part of its utility, even if its physical impact is sometimes limited or can be mitigated.
- Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own: Ukraine’s experience shows that no single “wonder weapon” wins a war. The conflict is a brutal attritional struggle. While hypersonic missiles provide a dramatic capability, they are useless without numbers, reliable intelligence, and a coherent strategy to leverage their effects. A thousand cheap drones can often achieve a more sustained and debilitating effect than a handful of $15 million missiles.
- The Nuclear Shadow: The existence of systems like the Avangard ensures that the strategic nuclear balance remains tense. Their deployment in Ukraine, even just the conventional Kinzhal, intentionally blurs the line between conventional and nuclear warfare, raising the stakes of every escalation.
Conclusion: The Symbol and the Substance
Russia’s hypersonic missiles in Ukraine represent a fascinating duality. They are both a potent, tangible threat and a powerful, fragile symbol.
As a symbol, they project an image of Russian power and technological innovation, a narrative tool for a regime invested in appearing strong and ahead of its adversaries. They are the specter that Putin wants hovering over decision-making in Kyiv, Brussels, and Washington.
But as a substance, their story is one of adaptation and reality. The myth of their invincibility has been shattered by Western technology and Ukrainian resolve. Their tactical impact, while real, has been blunted by their high cost, limited numbers, and the incredible effectiveness of modern air defenses.
The ultimate lesson from Ukraine may be that the era of hypersonic warfare is indeed here, but it is not an era of guaranteed dominance. It is an era of escalation, innovation, and a renewed arms race between ever-faster spearheads and ever-smarter shields. The skies over Ukraine are the testing ground for the future of conflict, and the hypersonic missile, for all its terrifying speed, is just one player in a much more complex and deadly game.