The Russian Dagger hypersonic missile is the first actual combat
On March 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that on March 18, the Russian air and space forces used dagger airborne hypersonic missiles to destroy an underground ukrainian ammunition depot for the first time, which was the first actual battle of dagger airborne hypersonic missiles and the first time hypersonic missiles landed on the stage of war, which was of far-reaching significance.
According to Russian sources, the target of the dagger missile was a large Ukrainian missile and aviation ammunition depot in Ivan-Frankiv Oblast, and the missile hit the target, destroying a large number of Ukrainian missiles and other ammunition, showing the powerful power of the dagger missile.
The dagger missile has a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers
The Dagger missile is an airborne hypersonic missile developed by Russia that made its public debut in 2018. The missile is nearly 8 meters long, about 0.9 meters in diameter, has a launch weight of 3.5-4 tons, and a warhead weight of 500 kg. The missile uses a single-stage solid rocket engine with a maximum speed of Mach 10 and a range of 2000 kilometers. The missile guidance system is a terminal radar guidance system, and may also use auxiliary guidance systems such as satellite navigation and astronomical star navigation, which have high hit accuracy.
The biggest feature of the dagger missile is the use of boost-gliding and maneuvering ballistics, which can improve the range and penetration capabilities of the missile. Since the missile has a large initial kinetic energy and altitude from above the aircraft, saving a lot of fuel, the missile can quickly climb high, reach the highest point of the ballistic trajectory (speed), and then dive down to attack. Dagger missiles can use mobile ballistics in the final stage, that is to say, the missile can maneuver immediately after reaching a certain altitude, so that the other party cannot predict the flight track, and the difficulty of interception quickly increases. Finally, the missile dives at a large angle to attack the target. Due to the large speed of the missile, it can cause huge damage to the target by relying solely on its own kinetic energy, or penetrate the solid protection or destroy the target on the surface.
Dagger missiles have high accuracy
According to the Russian side, the dagger airborne hypersonic missile began to develop in the new century, and after 2010, the test was successful, and the carrier aircraft was a MiG-31 two-seat interception. In 2017, the first batch of 6 MiG-31 interceptions were refitted and deployed in the Southern Military District of Russia, and the main target of operations was Ukraine. In 2018, the Russian Air and Space Force completed about 300 dagger missile training flights and used dagger missiles for the first time in the exercise, announcing that such missiles have formed an initial combat capability.
Dagger missiles have excellent performance and great power
This time Russia's first use of dagger hypersonic missiles in Ukraine has the following main purposes, one is to strengthen the attack on Ukraine, now Russia has seized The ukrainian air supremacy, Ukraine ground military facilities have basically been hit by the Russian side, and now Russia will turn its attention to more hidden, more difficult to destroy underground targets, destroying these targets will further weaken Ukraine's war potential, for the Ukrainian army is also a huge deterrent, hit their morale. After the War in Ukraine, the West has been providing weapons and equipment to Ukraine, and even "volunteers" have come to Ukraine to participate in the war. At this stage, Russia does not want to tear its face with Western countries and will not directly attack vehicles or aircraft aided by Western countries, but it can attack the ammunition depots where these weapons are stored, and it is said that the missiles and ammunition depots of this attack have stored a large number of weapons aid. This attack is reminiscent of the recent Russian attack on the Ukrainian foreign volunteer assembly center, after which a large number of foreign volunteers scattered, which not only eliminated a hidden danger, but also hit the morale of the Ukrainian army. There is also a goal, that is, to test the performance of missiles under actual combat conditions, the dagger missile is Russia's new generation of strategic/campaign missiles, shouldering important combat tasks, Russia hopes to be able to test the actual performance of missiles under actual combat conditions.
The appearance of dagger airborne high-ultrasonic missiles on the Battlefield of Ukraine indicates that high-ultrasonic missiles have officially entered the war stage, but it is still hoped that more missiles of the same type will be unveiled in the future.