Is Kinzhal a genuine hypersonic missile or is Russia deceiving the world?
The term "hypersonic" refers to anything that travels at five times the speed of sound - 6,174 kilometers per hour or faster - in other words, incredibly fast. Speed is crucial because it gives an opponent less notice and less time to respond.
According to comments made by the Russian government in 2018, the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal entered active duty in 2017. It is not a brand-new weapon, but rather a modified variant of the ground-launched 9K720 Iskander, which is a short-range ballistic missile. The main difference is that the new version has a new guidance system developed expressly for air-to-ground operations.
The Iskander missile, like the Kinzhal, reaches hypersonic speeds through a quasi-ballistic flight path that never leaves the atmosphere and is able to make course corrections along its entire journey to avoid being intercepted
While the 9K720 Iskander and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal are both powerful ballistic weapons but they are not hypersonic missiles.
what distinguishes hypersonic missiles is that they glide in the upper atmosphere and are very maneuverable. Ballistic missiles, like a thrown ball, have minimal options for changing direction once launched.
