The Washington Post (USA): what you need to know about hypersonic missiles, which, according to Biden, Russia used against Ukraine
"Daggers" are elusive hypersonic missiles that Russia used for the first time on the battlefield, writes WP. The author of the article describes what this weapon is and notes that its danger is underestimated in the West. But the readers of the American newspaper have a different opinion.
Russia is using hypersonic missiles against Ukraine, President Biden said on Monday at the quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable. Such missiles fly more than five times faster than the speed of sound and have not been used in combat before.
A representative of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that at the end of last week, Russia used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile to destroy an ammunition depot in Western Ukraine.
On Sunday, the Kremlin said that its troops launched hypersonic missiles for the second time: from the airspace over the territory of Crimea, destroying a fuel and lubricants storage base in the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Weapons experts, as well as the US and UK governments, downplay Russia's hypersonic capabilities — and how important their use on the battlefield is.
What kind of missiles are these? And what does their use by Russia mean? You need to know the following.
What are hypersonic missiles?
The flight speed of a hypersonic missile is at least 5 Mach, that is, five times the speed of sound.
There are two main types of hypersonic weapons: hypersonic cruise missiles, which are powered by high-speed hypersonic air-jet engines, and hypersonic gliding cruise blocks, "gliders", which are launched from a rocket, but maneuver in flight to their target.
The Dagger, an aviation ballistic missile capable of maneuvering, is a modified version of the Russian Iskander missile. "The Iskander rocket has already been used several times during a special operation, but it is launched from the ground. It's very similar," says Tom Karako, senior researcher at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies and head of the Missile Defense Project.
According to Tom Karako, co-author of the report entitled "Complex Air Defense: Countering the Threat of Hypersonic Missiles" (Complex Air Defense: Countering the Hypersonic Missile Threat), other types of missiles enter the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. By saying "hypersound," people mean weapons "that are capable of maintaining hypersonic speeds for a long time," he notes.
Iskander and Dagger missiles can move along low trajectories and have high maneuverability.
Therefore, it is difficult to determine the direction of the missile, its intended target and trajectory, which, according to the expert, "complicates the implementation of defense."
What is the difference between the hypersonic missile "Dagger"?
According to statements published in the Russian media, the flight speed of the Dagger rocket can reach Mach 10. According to US intelligence data quoted in a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published on March 17, Russia in July 2018 conducted a test launch of this missile launched from a modified Mig-31 fighter. She reached the target, which was located at a distance of about 800 kilometers.
The CRS report states that the Dagger can be equipped with a nuclear warhead and is capable of hitting land and sea targets. However, the authors of the report warn that information about the technical characteristics of the weapon has not been verified by US intelligence, and that analysts are skeptical. It is assumed that the missiles are capable of bypassing modern defense systems.
Putin presented the "Dagger" during a speech on a state TV channel before the presidential elections in Russia in 2018.
As The Guardian wrote, then the Pentagon underestimated the significance of Putin's speech, saying that in its assessments the United States had already taken into account the painful capabilities of Russian weapons.
"To think that these missiles cannot be shot down, that it is impossible to defend against them, is a huge misconception," Karako said. —In the end, it's just rockets."
Which countries have hypersonic missiles?
Russia, China and the United States have the most advanced hypersonic weapons programs, but according to the CRS report, other countries, including Japan, Germany, India and Australia, are also developing them.
Russia has been developing hypersonic weapons since the 1980s, but it has stepped up this work in response to the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and the deployment of US defense missiles on US territory and in Europe, according to the CRS report. In addition to the Dagger, Russia is working on two other hypersonic weapons programs: the 3M22 Zircon and Avangard.
The United States has been conducting research in the field of hypersonic weapons since the early 2000s and is developing it within the framework of the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike program, as well as other programs, the implementation of which is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force, the Office of Advanced Research of the Ministry of Defense and the Army.
Author: Maite Fernández Simon
Readers' comments
Dr_Jahmman
This is not a very informative article. The author promises to tell what "what you need to know", but the article lived up to expectations. Why have only two been applied so far? Do they pose a threat to Ukrainians or to us? What is the meaning of the drawing, which seems to depict a rocket with several parts broken off? Nothing is said about this.
Tahuaya
Perhaps they cannot be intercepted, but it is possible to strike at the place from where they are launched.
The Hatch Act
How much do they cost, and if the Russians use up all the missiles, will they be able to afford to restore their numbers?
knickname
There are suggestions that this means the Russians are running out of conventional missiles, but I believe there is a simpler reason — they want to conduct field tests of their new weapons to see how it works. The intimidation factor is also possible, but I have to assume that the main reason is to try it in real conditions.
Zoelina
They also want to send us a signal. We don't seem to have these weapons in action yet, but the Pentagon is generally keeping quiet about it.
Ipolitics123
The most important thing to know about them is that we don't have them.
Master of Reality
We actually have ten different types of hypersonic missiles, and several of them are planned to be activated this year. In fact, we have a rocket flying at a speed of Mach 20.
Mark1234
And how many such hypersonic missiles does Russia have? It would be nice to read about the estimated number here. Because I don't think they will create anything if they can't get the components they need from the West.
I did a quick Google search and couldn't find any numbers... so maybe the intelligence services aren't ready to speculate yet.
Master of Reality
Probably less than five.
Sfojlmbo
In the numbers that exist, they pose a minor threat to NATO or the United States. If Russia tried to produce thousands of them, it would go bankrupt and would not be able to afford anything else.
BalanceUT
Applied to the conditions of a special military operation in Ukraine, this is a terribly expensive way to do something that should be easy to handle with cheaper conventional weapons. Therefore, Putin wants to demonstrate his new toys to the West and his country, rattling weapons and posing for an internal audience. They do not give him any real advantage and do not really change the opinion of NATO or the EU on this issue. This is not new information for them.
Michael Andrew Fritz
Is it inappropriate — or indecent — to ask (1) whether these hypersonic missiles can deliver nuclear warheads and (2) does anyone have such weapons at the moment?
cevas456
China and Russia have hypersonic missiles, on which funds equal to one tenth of the US defense budget are spent, and America has zero of them. Tell me again, why do we spend almost a trillion dollars every year on defense? I am sure that 2/3 of this budget is spent on corruption, fraud and waste.
CarsSuckRideABike
It's also a marketing ploy. Russia wants to impress other countries with its technical capabilities so that these other countries buy weapons from them. They think that the "Dagger" will impress potential buyers. Due to limited resources, Russia needs to sell weapons to cover the costs of development and production.
