Battle of optics over Kiev skies as US ‘Patriot’ takes on Russian ‘Kinzhal’

With the world’s modern militaries increasingly veering around to the view that missile and anti-missile defence systems are simply indispensable and most critical in today’s warfare, the skies over Kiev lit up at about 3 AM on Tuesday with a fearsome pit-fight between two of the most powerful systems that the US and Russia can field—the US ‘Patriot’ anti-missile system pitted against the hypersonic Russian ‘Kinzhal’ missile.

Besides being a struggle to establish undisputed superiority in cutting-edge military technology, nothing can be a better advertisement for the capabilities of weapons and platforms than them fighting it out in real-life and high-intensity scenarios as in Ukraine.

More so because both the US and Russia are major sellers of military equipment, and also because today’s wars are fought under the public gaze with TV and social media being the mediums that take battles to the drawing rooms.

Early morning on Tuesday, in a coordinated attack, a volley of Russian missiles was launched into targets in Kiev. The target was obvious: The ‘Patriot’ surface-to-air anti-missile defence system—among the most advanced weapon systems in the US arsenal that offers near-impregnable defence against incoming missiles, aircraft, drones and other projectiles.

The Ukrainian Air Force later tweeted: “Tonight, Russia again attacked Ukraine. 6 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles - 9 Kalibr missiles - 3 ground-launched missiles – drones. ALL TARGETS SHOT DOWN.”

Infuriating Russia, two ‘Patriot’ systems had arrived in Ukraine on April 19—one gifted by the US, while the other one was jointly gifted by Germany and The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the Russians claimed that the ‘Patriot’ was taken out.

A Russian defence ministry statement said, “The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation launched a combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons and military equipment supplied by Western countries.”

“The goal of the attack has been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralised… US-manufactured Patriot surface-to-air missile system has been struck by Kinzhal hypersonic glide vehicle in Kiev.”

Both superpowers had been reluctant to use these cutting-edge weapons in the initial phase of the war. But with the war dragging on and showing signs of getting more intense, these weapons have been brought into play.

The first use of the Kinzhal was on March 18, 2022, while the second use was a year later on March 9 this year. The third time was on May 4 and then again on May 16. In the last two occasions, the target was obvious: The two Patriot systems that Ukraine was fielding.

High maneuverability and high speed—10 Mach or ten times the speed of sound—is what sets the ‘Kinzhal’ apart from other existing missiles of the day. It has a maximum range of about 2,000 km.

On the other hand, a ‘Patriot’ battery comprises a radar, a control station, and a generator besides vehicle-mounted launching systems armed with eight launchers that can fire four missile interceptors each. Various versions of the missile system operate at ranges of 30 km, 60 km, 90 km, and 160 km.

With the ‘fog of war’ blurring the exact extent of damage on the ‘Patriot’ system, Ukraine said the Russian assertion of hitting the ‘Patriot’ system with the ‘Kinzhal’ is not true.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television: “I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot… Destroying the system with some kind of ‘Kinzhal’, it’s impossible. Everything that they (Russia) say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive.”