Russian Kinzhal Missiles Losing Patriots Battle Frustrates China

Chinese defense experts have been less than impressed about the performance of Russia’s hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, especially when it comes to their survivability against the Patriot air defense systems used by Ukraine. Beijing is taking notes, analysts say, because the same American-made surface-to-air missile system is deployed by Taiwan, whose army has over a dozen batteries in addition to domestically produced air defense systems. The Russia-Ukraine War, now approaching its second full year, has afforded both the Pentagon and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army the chance to gauge how Moscow’s war machine matches up against Western military advances. Observers believe…