How Ukraine Used a Patriot to Shoot Down a Hypersonic Missile

During his address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018, President Putin unveiled what he then called a “game-changing” future weapon — the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (meaning “Dagger” in Russian) hypersonic missile.

Going by the NATO reporting name of “Killjoy”, Putin claimed the Kinzhal has a range of 2,000 km (1,200 mi) and can travel at speeds of Mach 10 or greater.

Mach 10 people! That’s the speed that [SPOLIER] Maverick achieved right before his Darkstar aircraft disintegrated in the movie Top Gun Maverick.

Putin said, “This [speed] enables the missile to penetrate through all existing and projected air defense systems and deliver a nuclear or conventional warhead.”

“…existing and projected air defense systems” means Putin believed that the Kinzhal can defeat any current air defense system deployed and any future air defense system that NATO may be working on.

Russia has used the Kinzhal several times in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, but on Saturday, Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, claimed that they successfully shot down a Kinzhal using an American-made Patriot air defense system.

So, let’s look at hypersonic technology, examine what we know about the Kinzhal, and look at the Patriot’s capabilities to try to elicit the truth.

How do hypersonic cruise missiles work?