Russia fired their most recent and lethal weapon from the belly of a MiG-31 fighter jet in March 2022. The first-ever use of a hypersonic weapon in combat occurred when the hypersonic Kinzhal missile ignited its rocket engines and raced across the sky toward a target in Ukraine at speeds as high as Mach 5.
At the forefront of a technical revolution in weaponry development is the Kinzhal and similar missiles. Although these hypersonics can travel at speeds of up to Mach 10, their agility is even more remarkable. Current ballistic missiles can go faster, up to Mach 20, since there is less drag preventing them from slowing down when they soar high above Earth’s atmosphere.Ballistic missiles, however, travel in predefined arcs, much like a cannonball, to achieve those speeds, which makes them simple to track and shoot down. The next generation of hypersonic missiles has the ability to fly low, below 60,000 feet, change direction midair, and avoid missile defense systems. According to military specialists, they are “unstoppable.”
A 2021 assessment from the U.K.-based security think tank RUSI stated that “hyperpersonalic weaponry represents the most significant advancement in missile technology since [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles] ICBMs.” “By the mid-2020s, [they] are poised to undermine nuclear-deterrence postures and create fissures in strategic stability.”
Russia has already begun testing a Kinzhal replacement that can reach Mach 9 speeds by using air-breathing engines, much like a jet, making it even more difficult to detect and counter. China has three hypersonic weapons in development, and Russia has three in total. Although it hasn’t produced a hypersonic missile that can fly yet, the US is supposedly working on at least eight of them.
Conventional missiles continue to dominate the battlefield as there aren’t many hypersonic weapons available for use in war. Smaller rockets have shown to be essential for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. In the meantime, Russia has attacked civilian targets with lethal conventional missile strikes using its massive arsenal. Furthermore, long-range intercontinental missiles and their megaton bombs are more important and deadly than ever before in our nuclear history due to Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats.
The world’s top 13 most hazardous missiles are listed here. Although hypersonics have taken the lead, we also included a few conventional weapons that still keep generals up at night.
1. Kh-47M2 Kinzhal
The Kinzhal (“Dagger”) was launched by Russia from a MiG-31 fighter jet in the spring of 2022, shortly after Moscow started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, breaking through the hypersonic missile barrier first. The nation’s Iskander ground-launched ballistic missile was redesigned to become the Kinzhal, which is more maneuverable thanks to updated aerodynamics and guidance technologies. The Kinzhal is able to avoid air defenses, such as the US Patriot surface-to-air missile, because to its sophisticated tail section and rudders.
In 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said of his nation’s new hypersonic missiles, “We had to create these weapons in response to the U.S. deployment of a strategic missile defense system, which in the future would be capable of virtually neutralizing, zeroing out all our nuclear potential.”
Kinzhal is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon with a maximum yield of 500 kilotons or a conventional warhead with 1,100 pounds of explosive. Additionally, throughout the conflict with Ukraine, Russia has been launching Kinzhals with conventional warheads, perhaps determined to demonstrate the weapon’s capabilities. Though one of those early rockets misfired and landed within Russia, hurting six civilians—including a firefighter—the impact has been minimal thus far. Additionally, the first-ever intercept of a Kinzhal by a Patriot missile system occurred in May 2023. Many Kinzhals have since been killed in Ukraine; the Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down all ten Kinzhals in a recent barrage in January 2024. The Kinzhal has even been referred to as “quasi-ballistic” by some defense analysts, implying that it is less agile than Russia says.
2. 3M22 Zircon
Soon, the first hypersonic weapon powered only by its own propulsion system will be put into service. The Russia-built Zircon uses a supersonic combustion ramjet engine, also known as a scramjet, to attain speeds of Mach 9, in contrast to the Kinzhal, which rides on a conventional missile. This air-breathing engine consumes and compresses oxygen similarly to a jet engine, in contrast to rockets, which are powered by an internal fuel and oxidizer mixture. Zircon is said to be able to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, and it is more maneuverable and has a longer range than Russia’s conventional short-range missiles.
According to Russia, the weapon can be fired from ships and submarines, and there are allegedly plans to construct a land-based version as well. Officials from Russia assert that Zircon has been successfully tested and that production has started, although the technology is still not in use. The Russian Navy’s Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, stated to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti in 2021 that the weapon still needed some work to be fixed before it could be used in combat.
3. Objekt 4202 Avangard
The country’s newest hypersonic missile, the Avangard, is likely to carry nuclear bombs if Russia uses them in its conflict with Ukraine, according to Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy president of Russia’s Security Council.
This hypersonic glide vehicle, also designated as Objekt 4202, is a novel ICBM warhead that attaches to a conventional ballistic missile and then separates to “glide” toward its target at hypersonic speeds. According to Russian sources, it might be installed atop the nation’s RS-28 Sarmat Heavy ICBM, also referred to as “Satan-2” by NATO due to its greater than 11,000 mile range.
Ordinary ICBM warheads can be readily intercepted because of their predictable trajectory. However, Avangard can alter course thanks to its movable control surfaces, which resemble jets. According to Russian officials cited by the TASS news agency, the nation is “invulnerable to any missile defense system.”
It is said that Avangard has a two-megaton warhead. That is almost 130 times more deadly than the atomic bomb unleashed on Hiroshima and about twice as powerful as the largest nuclear weapon ever used by the United States.
4. Dongfeng-17
Similar to Russia, China has high ambitions for creating hypersonic armaments. Among the most important is the nation’s DF-17 “aircraft-carrier killer” rocket, which carries the DF-ZF hypersonic glide missile. Although classical missiles can be shot down by U.S. carrier groups, this combination would be much more difficult. With its flat trajectory, the DF-17 differs from most other ballistic missiles. Its cruising altitude is relatively low, hovering around 60,000 feet, which makes long-range detection challenging. After then, the DF-ZF would separate and go faster than Mach 5 in the direction of the target.
China disclosed the new weapon in 2019 when it was spotted being transported by a 10-wheeled launch vehicle. The DF-17 is based on the country’s current short-range ballistic missile, the DF-16B. China asserts that the missile is now in use. That is cause for concern for rival naval fleets: The DF-17 is roughly 20 times larger than the 12-foot-long Harpoon, America’s most popular anti-ship missile. Its speed and mass make it more lethal than current anti-ship missiles, and the mere act of one hitting a ship at a mile per second would probably result in catastrophic damage.
5. Xingkong-2
China asserted in 2018 that it has successfully tested a brand-new, unique hypersonic cruise missile. The Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2) has several features with Russia’s Zircon, including a scramjet engine and a stealthy appearance. However, this missile is a “wave rider” rather than having wings. By efficiently riding its own hypersonic shockwaves, the missile produces lift without the added drag that comes with wings. From 2005 to 2013, the US tested comparable concepts on the experimental X-51, although they were never successful in producing a weapon. The scramjet engine and wave-riding architecture of the Xingkong should provide it with great agility and a large range, possibly even across continents. However, most analysts believe that this hypersonic will still be a few years away from going into service even after successful testing.