Britain follows the United States in doubting that russia's "daggers" are really hypersonic missiles
The UK refused to consider the Dagger a hypersonic missile. Earlier, this opinion was reasonably expressed in the United States, and is also voiced in China
This was written by espreso.tv
When vladimir putin presented the X-47M2 Kinzhal missile in 2018, he called it the world's first maneuverable hypersonic missile. But its practical application in the war in Ukraine has made the second country doubt not only the effectiveness of the Kinzhal, but also the right to be called a hypersonic missile.
According to the publication, Western experts are most concerned about such land-, air-, and sea-based missiles developed by China, not russia. China is the only country that has successfully put into service missiles that meet the 5M speed requirements, a British military intelligence official said at a briefing on hypersonic weapons development, The Times notes.
The analysis of the use of "daggers" in Ukraine has made the leaders of the hypersonic race, the Chinese, doubt them as well. In fact, the X-47M2 is "a version of the Iskander ground-launched tactical ballistic missile that can only be launched from an airplane". The "Dagger" is practically unable to maneuver at supersonic speeds, and "its ability to plan in the atmosphere at long distances does not meet expectations"; its maneuverability "cannot be compared to that of a real hypersonic missile," are the assessments given by experts in military journals whose publications are approved by the Chinese Communist Party and the National Liberation Army.
Although putin claimed that the Kinzhal has no analogues and is capable of overcoming even advanced missile defense systems, Ukraine has learned to shoot it down with the help of the US Patriot Trajectory system developed in the 1970s. The trajectory it follows makes it vulnerable to such air defense systems, Chinese experts confirm, believing that these missiles are incapable of significantly changing the situation on the battlefield.
- In May last year, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that it had shot down a russian Dagger missile for the first time.
- The United States assured that Ukraine used the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to intercept a russian Dagger missile, which the occupiers call hypersonic.
