 |
| Russia Trying To Destroy US Patriot Missile System in Ukraine With Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile |
Moscow - Russia has tried to destroy the Patriot missile defense system made in the United States (US) operated in Ukraine with hypersonic missiles last week. Moscow's efforts were revealed by two American officials to CNN. According to the officials, the Russian attack failed. Instead, the Ukrainian military intercepted the missile using the Patriot system. It marked Kiev's first successful use of the advanced US-made air defense system just weeks after it arrived in Ukraine.
A US official said Ukrainian air defense forces fired several interceptor missiles from the Patriot system at different angles to intercept the Russian hypersonic missile, showing how quickly they are adept at using the powerful system. US officials believe that the Russians picked up the signal being emitted from the Patriot, enabling them to target the system using a hypersonic missile, known as the Kinzhal or Killjoy.
The Patriot missile system has a powerful radar to detect incoming targets at long distances, making it a powerful air defense platform capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and more. But the radar emission needed to spot threats at a distance also allows the enemy to detect Patriot batteries and know their location.
Unlike some of the short-range air defense systems provided to Ukraine which are mobile and more difficult to target, the Patriot system's large battery is a stationary system, allowing Russia to zero in on its location from time to time.
According to US officials, there are ways to camouflage the signals to some extent, but the Russian military has been able to pinpoint the rough location of a Patriot system deployed outside of Kiev. The interception of a Russian hypersonic missile occurred on the night of May 4. This was announced by Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, last weekend. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that the Patriot missile system would definitely become a legitimate target for Russian troops.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder confirmed earlier this week that Ukraine had used the Patriot system to intercept the Kinzhal missile, which can reach hypersonic speeds. Ukraine has received at least two Patriot systems, one from the United States and one from Germany, to bolster its air defenses, which were previously unable to intercept more modern Russian missiles such as the Kinzhal.
When the US first announced it would be sending a Patriot missile system to Ukraine, the delivery schedule was months in, given the system's complexity and the need to train dozens of Ukrainian troops in how to operate the system's battery, which has many components. But Ukraine is already experienced in using air defense systems, allowing the US to condense a standard training program of about a year into a few months.
The Patriot system's final inspection took place in mid-April, where US, German, and Dutch trainers joined Ukrainian service members for a final check of the system before being shipped to Ukraine soon after.
Moscow military experts and sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense have dismissed claims Ukraine shot down the Kinzhal hypersonic missile with a US-made Patriot missile system. One of the Moscow military experts, Alexey Leonkov, said it would be impossible to shoot down the Kinzhal hypersonic missile with the Patriot MIM-104 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.
He explained that the SAM radar was unable to track Kinzhal due to the speed limit of the intercepted targets being Mach3. “When they (Ukraine) used live Patriot missiles, they couldn't identify anything that was capable of flying faster (than Mach3). In the case of a Patriot missile flying after Kinzhal, the interceptor would have to fly at least 1.5 times faster than the Russian hypersonic missile," he said. "The Patriot has never worked with the type of target like the Kh-47, therefore it is too early to rejoice," he said.