Russia Successfully Tests Hypersonic Missile, Says Can Beat US Defenses

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday said it successfully launched a hypersonic missile dubbed the Kinzhal missile that President Vladimir Putin unveiled earlier this month.

The Defense Ministry, in a statement, said Saturday the hypersonic missile was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia’s southwest.

At the time of the unveiling, Putin described the Kinzhal missile — named after a type of dagger — as an “ideal weapon” to thwart U.S. defenses. The statement made by the president was not well received by the U.S. government. Putin is expected to be re-elected this month, CNN reported.

Earlier this month, at the heels of Putin’s statement on the missiles, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: "That's certainly something that we did not enjoy watching, we don't regard that as the behavior of a responsible international player."

When Putin introduced his new array of missiles during his annual address to the federal assembly of the Russian Federation, he said the weapon was capable of flying at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defense systems. The statement was widely received as a show to bolster his power ahead of the presidential election on March 18.

"Russia still has the greatest nuclear potential in the world, but nobody listened to us," said Putin. "Listen now."

The ministry, in the statement, lauded the performance of the weapon designed to decimate targets on ground and at sea. The ministry said the weapon successfully hit its targets during the launch.

"A MiG-31 fighter crew of the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted a combat training launch of a hypersonic missile of the Kinzhal high-precision air missile system in the designated area," the ministry said in the statement Saturday.

"The hypersonic missile confirmed its technical operational performance and timing data of the Kinzhal missile system," the statement added.

However, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis did not appear to be convinced by the claims made by the ministry on having developed high tech missiles.

Mattis, en-route to Oman on Sunday, told reporters the technology is "still years away," CNN reported.

"I saw no change to the Russian military capability, and each of these systems he (Putin) is talking about that are still years away, I did not see them changing the military balance," said Mattis. "They did not impact any need on our side for a change in our deterrent posture."

"Let me talk about the end state. How many years away they are, how much money they want to put into this arms race that they are creating with themselves," said Mattis.

"At the end of the day, they can sink all that money in; it does not change my strategic calculation," he said. "I just assumed it would all happen at great expense to the Russian people. It does not change anything."

Russia's Defense Ministry released video footage that showed a successful launch of the missile hitting its intended target.