Kinzhal (NATO designation Killjoy) - Russia's supersonic missile

“Hypersonic weaponry represents the most significant advancement in missile technology since [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles] ICBMs.”
They are on their way to undermining nuclear-deterrence postures and creating cracks in strategic stability by the mid-2020s.”Show more

The Kh-47M2 (Dagger) (NATO designation Killjoy) entered service in December 2017 and is a Russian, nuclear-capable, air-launched, ballistic missile (ALBM). It uses classical ballistic missile technology at greater speeds.
It has a claimed range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) while carrying a nuclear or conventional payload of 480 kg, Mach 10 speed, and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight.
It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from MiG-31K interceptors and Tu-22M3 bombers. A specialized version of the MIG-31K has been developed for this purpose.
The Dagger is a modified version of the country’s Iskander, a ground-launched ballistic missile, but it has new aerodynamics and guidance systems that give it greater maneuverability. An advanced tail section and rudders allow the Dagger to evade air defenses, including the U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile
Following the launch, the Killjoy rapidly accelerates to Mach 4 (4,900 kilometers per hour), and may reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,350 kilometers per hour).
The principle of operation of the Killjoy missile is as follows - initially, the missile, together with the aircraft, accelerates to the maximum speed. After being dropped, the missile turns on its solid-propellant engine and gains hypersonic speed. The launch takes place at altitudes of about 15 kilometers, where the density of the atmosphere and the temperature are quite low, and the missile accelerates to speeds of 10 Mach. Despite this speed, it is still maneuverable and therefor invulnerable to modern air defense and missile defense systems.
The Killjoy complex uses a ballistic missile with solid propellant rocket engine. The control system is characterized as autonomous inertial, with correction according to satellite navigation data and, possibly, data from a radar map of the area. Target search is facilitated by the presence of an all-weather homing head.

"Killjoy" strikes at an angle of 90 degrees. The deviation can be as low as one meter.

The missile is designed to destroy NATO warships, NATO missile defence systems and land targets. It is allegedly designed to overcome any existing or planned NATO air or missile defense systems.
Hypersonic missiles fly at a much lower altitude than conventional ballistic missiles.
They follow what is known as a low atmospheric-ballistic trajectory. That means that by the time a radar-based missile defense system clocks them, they are already so close to their target that in many cases it is too late to intercept them.

Because it flies at hypersonic speeds within the atmosphere, the air pressure in front of it forms a plasma cloud as it moves, absorbing radio waves (Plasma stealth). The high speed of the Killjoy gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter, slower cruise-missiles. With advanced maneuvering capabilities, high precision and hypersonic speed it is capable to disable and possibly even sink a one hundred thousand ton supercarrier with a single strike. With a mass of 2,000 kilograms (4,400 Pounds) and a speed of Mach 10 (including 500 kilograms warhead and the other parts of the missile), the Killjoy has more than 16.9 gigajoules of kinetic energy, or the equivalent of 4,000 kilograms of TNT.
MiG-31K and Tu-22M3 "Killjoy" carriers can create a protected zone along maritime borders for a distance of up to two thousand kilometers.

Russia's defence ministry claimed to have fired a Killjoy missile at a munitions dump in southwestern Ukraine on March 19, 2022, the first known use of the weapon in combat. the warehouse was a Soviet-era storage facility called “Object-711” or “Ivano-Frankvisk 16”, built in 1955.
Used to house nuclear weapons, warheads, and tactical missiles of the Soviet Union, it was heavily hardened even to withstand atomic bombs and the resultant radiation fallouts. Located 150 meters (492 feet) deep with two levels, “Object-711” could hold a small-sized military camp and was considered one of the safest arsenals in the region.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense moved most of its weapon stockpiles here.
The storage facility was destroyed.

That the Killjoy could penetrate so deep with its tearing hypersonic speed and destroy the facility is being pointed to as proof of its lethality that even the US cannot counter.