Russia said it had on Friday used the Kinzhal (Dagger) high-precision hypersonic missile, which can elude most defence systems, to destroy an arms depot in Deliatyn, a village near the border with Romania.
Moscow has never admitted using the state-of-the-art missile in combat before.
Here are 5 key updates related to the missile attack
- "The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region", the Russian defence ministry said Saturday.
- Hypersonic missiles can be used to deliver conventional warheads, more rapidly and precisely than other missiles. But their capacity to deliver nuclear weapons could add to a country's threat, increasing the danger of a nuclear conflict.
- The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018. The nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-ground missile has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km, Mach 10 speed, and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight.
- It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has termed the Kinzhal air-launched missile "an ideal weapon" that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defence systems.
