Russia says it used a hypersonic missile in Ukraine for first time: report

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The Kinzhal hypersonic missile is designed to launch from MiG fighter jets.

Russian defense officials say the country has fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, seen here in a 2018 photo on a MiG 31k fighter jet, into Ukraine in an attack on March 18, 2022. It's the first time the missile has been used in combat.
Russian defense officials say the country has fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, seen here in a 2018 photo on a MiG 31k fighter jet, into Ukraine in an attack on March 18, 2022. It's the first time the missile has been used in combat. (Image credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Russian defense ministry officials said the country used a new hypersonic missile in an attack on Ukraine on Friday, marking its first use in combat. 

The hypersonic missile, called Kinzhal ("Dagger" in Russian), was used in an attack on a large underground warehouse in southwestern Ukraine, according to Bloomberg News, which cited that Russia's claim had yet to be independently verified.

Hypersonic missiles are weapons designed to fly at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5, which is about 3,800 mph (6,100 kph). Their speed and ability to maneuver themselves to a target makes them extremely difficult to track and shoot down. The United States, Russia, China and North Korea have been developing hypersonic weapons, some of which are launched into space, in pursuit of long-range flight and maneuverability.

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Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missile, is an air-to-ground weapon carried on Russian MiG-31K fighter jets and has a reported range of 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers), according to a Tass report in 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the country is also developing a hypersonic incontinental ballistic missile called Avangard that will travel at Mach 20 to reach targets around the world. 

North Korea claims to have tested its hypersonic missile this year. Last August, China  reportedly launched a hypersonic missile test on a Long March rocket, with the U.S. military testing hypersonic technology in a series of small rocket launches in October.

Aerospace companies are also pursuing hypersonic technology to develop faster jets for air travel.

Stratolaunch is building a hypersonic research plane called Talon that is designed to fly up at speeds of Mach 6 and be launched from Roc, the world's largest plane that Stratolaunch built for mid-air rocket launches. Talon will serve as a testbed for to develop new hypersonic technologies for use in the government and commercial sectors.

Another company, Hermeus Corp., is developing a hypersonic plane called Quarterhorse to travel at Mach 5 or above for air travel. It unveiled its first full-scale prototype in November.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.