Hypersonic Kinzhal was probably shot down over Kyiv on May 4 - Defence Express

This was reported by Defense Express.

The Kyiv City Military Administration officially announced the nighttime enemy attack on Kyiv on May 4, noting that the capital was attacked by Shahed kamikaze drones and missiles "probably of a ballistic type."

The wreckage of the downed missile without a warhead fell within the capital.

The Ukrainian military portal Defense Express received photos of the wreckage, including the nose fairing with traces of damage, of the Kh-47 Kinzhal missile.

One of the photos shows the nose fairing, which is most similar to the one used in the Kh-47 Kinzhal missile with a complex shape of sharp diameter transitions.

The wreckage of the Kh-47 Kinzhal and its MiG-31K carrier

Defense Express experts note that the alternative in the form of the Kh-22 has a different nose, with oval transitions. Also, the fairing of the downed missile, as seen in the photo, differs from the Iskander ballistic missile, which has a greater thickness.

The wreckage shows that it sustained a piercing damage, which allows us to estimate the thickness of the material, because it is the thickness that allows it to withstand high temperatures during acceleration to hypersonic speeds. It also indicates that the interception was quite effective, with the warhead destroyed in the air.

Accordingly, this is the reason for the powerful explosion heard by Kyiv residents on the night of May 4.

Defense Express noted that the report on the destruction of a ballistic target is not true, but the fact is that the Kinzhal is hypersonic only in the imagination of the Russians. Because even though it accelerates to hypersonic speeds with the help of an accelerator, it cannot maintain this speed permanently. Already at the terminal stage, i.e. during the attack, it enters the target on a ballistic trajectory and has a high, but far from hypersonic speed.

• On May 4, Russia attacked Ukraine: Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 18 out of 24 Shahed drones, UAVs attacked dormitories in Odesa