On the morning of March 20, 2022, during an official briefing by a representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it was announced that the Kinzhal (in English Dagger) missile system was used to destroy an ammunition depot in the Ivano-Frankovsk region and a fuel storage base in the Nikolayev region of Ukraine. Later, this information was confirmed by representatives of the Pentagon and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is impossible to deny this fact.

 

Thus, it became the first documented combat use of the newest Russian missiles of this class.

 

First, it should be noted that in official statements by representatives of the Ministries of Defense of Russia, the United States and Ukraine, made in connection with the use of the Kinzhal, it was emphasized that the new missile was used for critically important and, most importantly, having a high level of protection, targets. The one was located in the village of Delyatin.

 

The ammunition depot in the village of Delyatin is a former Soviet storage of nuclear warheads and missiles, constructed in a rocky area and additionally reinforced with a multi-meter layer of reinforced concrete. It contained Ukrainian aviation weapons and combat units for the Tochka-U ballistic missile systems each tipped with 15,000 splinters, which have been repeatedly used against civilians of Donbass, including in March 2022.

 

Conventional missiles, including the previously used Kalibr missile, would not be able to destroy this highly protected targets with a single strike.

 

Kinzhal was able. And very accurately.

 

The second point. Currently, Russia is conducting a military operation not against international terrorist organizations, but against the armed forces of Ukraine and groups of aggressive neo-nationalists merged with them, which in various military ratings were among the top five best armies in Europe. In addition, American and European military specialists are operating on the Ukrainian side, using real-time information from national intelligence agencies, as well as modern types of Western weapons. Under these conditions, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation had the opportunity to test new weapons in conditions of real enemy counteraction.

 

Thirdly, the use of the latest Kinzhal missile system was carried out taking into account the widespread reports about the likely supply to Ukraine from the countries of the transatlantic Alliance of air defense systems from the old Soviet design to modern systems in the form of S-300, which are in service with some European countries.

 

It is quite obvious that, anticipating the implementation of such plans, the Russian military leadership is already developing effective tactics to combat enemy anti-aircraft missile systems without unnecessary risk to its aviation. The high tactical and technical characteristics of Russian hypersonic missiles in terms of speed and maneuvering ensure that any air defense and missile defense systems, including those of American and European production, are unlikely to ensure their interception.

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense clarified that the use of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile with pin-point accuracy was carried out from a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers, and its flight time to the target was less than 10 minutes. The missile was equipped with a conventional warhead.

 

It can be assumed that the use of the Kinzhal missile at a target with the highest degree of protection will send a clear signal to the military and political leadership of the United States and its NATO allies that Russia has effective means to destroy key elements of the enemy's state and military control system – regardless of their location and engineering and technical security and protection.

 

It should be noted that the Russian high-precision hypersonic long-range weapons have confirmed their high reliability and effectiveness in disabling and destroying the military industry and infrastructure of Ukraine, which has already committed armed aggression against the citizens of the DPR and LPR three times over the past eight years, during which over 14 thousand civilians were killed and 34 thousand wounded. The brightest examples of the use of promising Russian weapons of new developments are the successful strikes on the Yavorovsky training ground, the Kharkov Tractor Plant and the fuel storage base in the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine. All these facilities have been used to launch aggressions against innocent civilians – the citizens of Ukraine and Donbass.

 

To destroy tactical targets in the interests of providing fire support for offensive actions of troops, in massive and concentrated fire strikes, conventional means of fire destruction are used. They are relatively cheap, simple and their production has been mastered for a long time, and their use with the help of the latest sighting and navigation systems of bomber aviation allows achieving increased accuracy comparable to high-precision weapons and eliminating possible errors when striking in densely populated areas, which was confirmed during the military anti-terrorist operation in the Syrian Arab Republic.

 

It is also important that Russia has enough reserves of such funds for many years of potential high-intensity military operations if our country is forced to resort to these measures to protect its national interests and to ensure strategic stability.

 

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin - Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Sciences of Russia