Ukraine downs Russian hypersonic 'dagger' with US Patriot missile defense system
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Ukraine has announced that it used US's air defense system Patriot to effectively intercept a Russian hypersonic missile for the first time.
The Patriot intercepted the Kinzhal missile that was launched during a nighttime raid over Kyiv on May 4, according to Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, who verified this on Telegram.
"I congratulate the Ukrainian people on the historic event. Yes, we shot down the 'unique' Kinzhal," Oleshchuk declared in a Telegram post on Saturday.
"It happened during the nighttime attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region."
Kinzhal is one of six "next generation" weapons that Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled in 2018, claiming that no air defense system in the world can shoot it down.
The air-launched Kinzhal ballistic missile, also known as the "dagger" in Russian, has a maximum speed of 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads.
A Kinzhal missile is said to have a range of 1,500-2,000km (932- 1242 miles) that can carry a payload of 480 kg.
Russian capabilities are in doubt after the Patriot system of Ukraine successfully intercepted a Kinzhal missile.
US Patriot missile defense system
According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, the Russians had previously asserted that their weapons were superior to the Patriot and that it was an outmoded American weapon.
However, he said, Russia received a "slap in the face" as a result of Ukraine successfully intercepting the Kinzhal missile.
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defense minister, earlier stated that Patriots would be essential in protecting Ukrainian infrastructure against ballistic missiles.
"Building a multi-level air and missile defense system as soon as possible is our priority," he said.
Analysts estimate that the Patriot system costs $4 million for each missile and $10 million for each launcher. It was commonly believed that Ukraine would only utilize the Patriot missile defense system to counter Russian planes or hypersonic missiles.
Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a surface-to-air missile system created by Raytheon Technologies Corp. to defend against aerial threats.
Batteries of the system were initially used in 1991 during the Gulf War to defend areas in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel.
The Patriot system is one of several high-tech air defense systems that the West has given to Ukraine to assist it in fending off a months-long Russian campaign of airstrikes against critical infrastructure, power plants, and other targets.
The raids have caused extensive power outages and other disruptions but failed to destroy the electrical grid. However, Russian officials deny targeting civilians.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine air force also reported that it had destroyed eight Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that had been launched by Russia during the same night as the successful Kinzhal missile intercept.
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