The successful operation by the Russian Aerospace Forces to destroy the Patriot air defense system in Kiev on May 16, using the MiG-31K Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile, represents the first serious modern attempt to suppress Western defense systems long-range aerial. This was reported by Military Watch, assessing other possible risks.
According to Western analysts and the press, what happened in Kiev for the first time tested decades-old arguments about the vulnerability of these air defense systems against modern types of ballistic missiles, including understood the soil Iskander-M OTRK -soil class, on the basis of which the dagger was created. “. At one time, the Soviet OTR-23 Oka, on the basis of which the Iskander was developed, was also considered a difficult target for Western air defense systems.
The publication drew attention to the fact that the Russian “dagger” has greater survivability in flight due to its performance characteristics. Thus, its semi-ballistic trajectory with an apogee of 50 km, the ability to perform various maneuvers and the final hypersonic speed in the Mach 9 region are far beyond the intercept capabilities of the Patriot. The ability of the “Dagger” to destroy the “Patriot”, avoiding 32 missiles fired, indicates that the expectations of a relatively high degree of invulnerability of these missiles have been confirmed. This has serious implications for the much larger arsenal of Iskander-M systems that form the backbone of Moscow’s tactical strike capability.
But the capabilities of the Kinzhal are of great importance not only for Russia and foreign buyers of the Iskander-M, but also for the DPRK, which has been deploying and developing capabilities very rapidly since 2019 with capabilities very similar to the Iskander. In particular, we are talking about the KN-23 system, which, although similar, has a number of differences – a much longer range and a variety of transport platforms (wheeled, tracked and rail). In addition, all wheeled vehicles use Belarusian MZKT – 7930 tractors with a formula of 8 × 8 wheels with a carrying capacity of 17.8-25 tons.
Kinzhal’s neutralization of the Patriot system in Kiev indicates that North Korean KN-23s may well do the same against the Patriots, THAAD and other Western systems deployed in South Korea and Japan. The fact that the missiles, which are only hypersonic on their final trajectory, have this capability also bodes well for the potential of the hypersonic glider vehicles that the DPRK first unveiled in mid-2021 – they fly at hypersonic speeds throughout their trajectory, and they are significantly harder to track or intercept than even missiles like the Kinzhal
- East Asia security expert EB Abrams told the publication.
North Korea has spent decades developing ways to improve the survivability of its missiles, including developing maneuverable re-entry vehicles for its first-generation Scud munitions. They were even exported to Syria to counter Israel’s deployment of American Patriot air defense systems. Since then, Pyongyang has achieved some positive results for itself.
The ability to overcome US and allied missile defenses is far more important to North Korea’s security than to Russia’s security, not only because these defense systems are much more concentrated in the Pacific than in Europe or in the Arctic, but also because the country relies much more on ballistic missile capabilities for its defense than the Russian Federation
Abrams added.
The success of the “Dagger” and many previous successes using the “Iskander-M” hold promise for the DPRK. Pyongyang’s investment in the KN-23 could be vital because not only is the United States rapidly modernizing its forces in East Asia, but it has also repeatedly come close to hitting its adversary, which in some cases included plans for the massive use of nuclear weapons. KN-23 can neutralize enemy air defenses, making target territories (a large number of military bases of the United States and its allies) much more vulnerable to their wider arsenals (subsonic and other missiles), the media summarized.
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