Russian Su-34 Jet Hits Ukraine with Hypersonic 'Kinzhals' in War's First

Russian forces have fired Moscow's vaunted Kinzhal hypersonic missile at Ukraine using an Su-34 fighter-bomber for the first time, according to Russian state media, in what could mark a tactical change in how the Kremlin uses its air force in the war.

"The Su-34 aircraft used the Kinzhal hypersonic missile during the air strike," the Kremlin-backed Tass news agency reported on Monday.

Russia's Kinzhal, also known as the "Dagger" or "Killjoy" hypersonic missile, quickly became a regular feature of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to Russian state media reports, the missile was first used in combat in mid-March 2022. Ukraine's air force has said on several occasions that Moscow has launched Kinzhal strikes on Ukrainian territory, although they are less commonly reported than other Russian missile types.

The air-launched missiles are typically fired from Russia's Soviet-era MiG-31K, rather than the twin-engine supersonic fighter-bomber Su-34. Russian state media reports have suggested Moscow's Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, as well as the Su-34 fighter-bombers, may be modified to carry the Kinzhal, but this is the first indication that a new set of aircraft has successfully launched the "Dagger."

Making the Su-34 Kinzhal-capable is a "logical step" for Russia's military, according to Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

It would also free up many of Russia's MiG-31 aircraft to act as interceptors along the front line, he told Newsweek. In this kind of role, "their long-range radar and R-37 interceptors have proven useful for the Russians as a tool to keep Ukrainian aircraft at bay," he added, saying the MiG-31's radar system can theoretically identify cruise missiles and act as an anti-cruise missile asset.

"As such, if the use of the Su-34 as a missile launcher frees up MiG-31s, we might see more of the latter in defensive roles against aircraft and cruise missiles, especially if the Ukrainian missile threat to Russian forces in Crimea becomes more acute," Kaushal argued.

Moscow has lauded the Kinzhal as one of its "unstoppable" new next-generation weapons, capable of travelling at 10 times the speed of sound. However, Western experts suggest Moscow's labeling of the Kinzhal as hypersonic is misleading, and that the "Dagger" may not be quite as invulnerable to air defenses as Russia has claimed.

"All the indications are the Kinzhal is simply an air-launched ballistic missile" with a limited course-correction capacity, rather than being a truly hypersonic weapon, military expert David Hambling previously told Newsweek.

But although Russia has "very limited stocks" of Kinzhals, if it does have more launch platforms for its hypersonic missiles, "it opens up the possibility that they will attempt to fire a barrage of them in an attempt to overwhelm air defenses," Hambling told Newsweek on Monday.

"It may also be that Russia desperately needs some kind of good news to persuade the population that its technology is still advancing," he added.

Newsweek has reached out to Ukraine's military and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Kyiv has managed to shoot down a number of Kinzhal missiles in recent months, according to Ukraine's military.

Ukraine's Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleschuk, said Ukraine had successfully "brought down the 'unparalleled' Dagger" fired from a MiG-31K in early May 2023. The Pentagon later confirmed a Ukrainian-operated Patriot system had intercepted a Russian Kinzhal missile, which a "high-placed source in Russia's Defense Ministry" dismissed in Russian state media as "wishful thinking."

By mid-June, Kyiv said it had shot down more than two dozen "Kinzhal" missiles in recent months. "The apparent vulnerability" of the Kinzhal is "likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia," the British Defense Ministry said in a post to social media in mid-May.

Update 09/04/23, 11:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comment from David Hambling.