Pentagon confirms Ukraine downed Russian Kinzhal missile with Patriot system

The US Department of Defense officially confirmed that Ukrainian defenders shot down the Russian Kinzhal missile that Russia classifies as "hypersonic" with the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex.

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder stated this, CNN reports.

"I can confirm that they did down a Russian missile by employing the Patriot missile defense system," Ryder said. "As you know, that system is part of a broader range of air defense capabilities that the United States and the international community have provided to Ukraine."

The Pentagon spokesperson added that the US and its partners will continue building ground-based air defense assets and ammunition "to help Ukraine control its sovereign skies and to help Ukraine defend its citizens from Russia."

Ukrainian military portal Defense Express reported on May 5 that Ukrainian service members shot down a Kinzhal missile for the first time since Russia started its full-scale war. The reporters said they had received photos of the wreckage, particularly the nose fairing with traces of damage. They belong to the Kh-47 Kinzhal missile, which the invaders tried to use to hit Kyiv on the night of May 4. The portal stressed that Ukraine has already officially received means to fight ballistic targets — Patriot anti-aircraft missile complexes.

At first, Ukraine's Air Force Command spokesperson, Yurii Ihnat, denied the downing. However, in the end, AF commander Mykola Oleshchuk confirmed the destruction of this target.

CNN previously reported that while the Patriot system is successful against ballistic missiles, its ability to stop missiles like the Kinzhal, which Russia calls hypersonic, was purely theoretical until last week.

According to the publication's source, the interception carried out by Ukraine demonstrated this capability in the real world. This is important for several reasons. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly advertised the capabilities of Russian weapons, which he called hypersonic, saying that they can overcome all existing air defense systems. Until last week, Russia calculated that if it used a missile like the Kinzhal, everything it fired at would be struck—however, the downing cast doubt on this calculation.

The Kinzhal missile first appeared in the Russian service in 2017. After launching from the plane, it rises to a high altitude in the upper layers of the atmosphere and then approaches the target along a ballistic trajectory. 

Russia calls it hypersonic. Defense Express, however, notes that this missile can accelerate to hypersonic speed thanks to an accelerator but cannot fly so continuously. At the stage of the approach to the target, "Kinzhal" moves quickly but does not reach hypersonic speed, journalists say.

However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claims that the missile can reach a speed of approximately 12,000 km/h during its ballistic trajectory, i.e., reach hypersonic speed.

Aviation and defense expert David Gambling noted in an article for Forbes that Kinzhal missiles are not necessarily faster than traditional ballistic missiles, which also reach hypersonic speeds.

"While ballistic missiles have a highly predictable flight path, like a cannonball, hypersonic missiles can maneuver within the atmosphere. This means that ballistic missiles can be detected at a long distance, and the interception point can be pre-determined. In contrast, hypersonic missiles remain at a lower level, give less time for warning, and do not follow a predictable path," the expert explains.