The much feared Iskander missile has been part of the Russian arsenal since 2006. It is a surface-to-surface rocket, which uses a mobile launching platform, and it can fly at the hypersonic speed of Mach 6. The Iskander-M version, successfully tested in 2018, can reach Mach 8. It has been used in the war in Ukraine to destroy bunkers and command posts. The official designation is 9K720, while it is known in the West as the SS-26 Stone.
Technical Characteristics
The 9K720 Iskander is a short-range, tactical, ballistic missile, which has been massively produced in the thousands in the last two decades. For conventional wars, it is armed with a high explosive, or fragmentation warhead, which can be replaced by a nuclear warhead. It is guided to its target by inertial guidance system and GLONASS (Russian GPS), and terrain contour matching homing. Its accuracy is better than 10-m diameter perimeter. It is powered by a single-stage rocket engine, which uses solid fuel. (Watch video below, at the bottom).
Specifications
Type: short-range ballistic missile
Weight: 3,800 kg (8,400 pounds)
Length: 7.3 m ( 24 feet)
Diameter: 0.92 m, or 92 cm (3 feet)
Warhead: 700 k (HE, fragmentation, penetration/or nuclear)
Maximum Speed: Mach 6 and Mach 8
Range: 500 km (9K720), 700 km (Iskander-M)
Below, the 9K720 (SS-26 Stone) in 2012 during military exercesis in the Ural region.
The Iskander missile in action (video)
