Damage to the Patriot air defense system from a Russian supersonic missile attack near Kyiv on Tuesday morning was minimal, three U.S. officials said. CNNan official described it as “minor” damage.

The US sent inspectors to check the system on Tuesday after the Ukrainians told them the system appeared to be damaged, the official said.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported on Telegram on Tuesday that “the strike by the high-precision hypersonic missile “Kinjal” on the city of Kyiv hit the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex of American production.” The announcement was made after the Russians launched an “exceptionally intense” airstrike on Kyiv overnight.

The Patriot system probably won’t need to be removed from the battlefield

The system itself is still operational and the radar component, one of its most critical elements, was not damaged, officials said. US officials do not believe the Patriot will need to be taken off the battlefield for repairs.

A complete Patriot battery has six main components: generators, radar, control station, antennas, launch station, and interceptor missiles. The components work together to launch a Patriot missile and successfully guide it to its target.

It is not known exactly which part of the Patriot was damaged, whether it was damaged by an actual missile strike or by falling debris. The Ukrainians announced that they had successfully intercepted all six Russian Kinjal missiles on Tuesday morning.

Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Ukrainian television that the American Patriot air defense system cannot be destroyed by the Kinjal missile.

“Don’t worry about the fate of the Patriot. Technically, the Patriot is a… system,” he said, noting that it consists of components that can be placed far apart.

What is the Patriot Missile System?

Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a surface-to-air missile defense system developed by Raytheon Technologies Corp and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the US arsenal.

The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, when the batteries defended Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and was later used during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Can the Patriot shoot down hypersonic missiles?

The Patriot system was developed before hypersonic weapons were sent to the battlefield, and Raytheon has not publicly stated that it is effective against hypersonic missiles, meaning missiles that travel five times the speed of sound.

While the U.S. said a Patriot system shot down a Kinjal missile last week, it is unclear whether the missile was traveling at hypersonic speeds at the time.

Although Russia’s Kinjal missile can reach speeds of up to 7,600 mph (12,350 km/h), “Russia’s definition of the Kinjal missile as ‘hypersonic’ is misleading because almost all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. above Mach 5) . ) at some point during their flight,” according to a March 2022 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

• pageWill Ukraine use Patriot systems to shoot down Russian hypersonic missiles?

Ukraine said it shot down six Kinzhal missiles on Tuesday, but Russia denied this.

Ukraine said it shot down such a Russian missile for the first time in early May thanks to the powerful American Patriot anti-aircraft system delivered to Kyiv in April.

Russia has arrested three researchers who created Kinjal missiles

Moreover, the statement by US officials comes after three Russian scientists who worked on the development of hypersonic missiles have now been charged with treason for frequently attending presentations related to hypersonic weapons technology.

These are Anatoly Maslov, Oleksandr Shiplyuk and Valery Zvehintsev.

In 2012, Maslov and Shiplyuk presented abroad, in France, the results of experiments conducted on a model of a hypersonic rocket. In 2013, all 3 researchers were among the authors of a scientific paper on hypersonic technologies.

In an open letter signed by their colleagues from ITAM, the Kristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk, it is said that the materials presented by the researchers at international conferences were repeatedly checked for the absence of classified information.

The Russian scientists also claim that their arrest shows that “any article or report could lead to charges of treason.”

Follow the latest events of the 448th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.