It was unveiled in 2018 by Putin alongside the Zircon anti-ship and Avangard glide vehicle [1]. Within the context of Russian hypersonic ballistic missiles, Kinzhal is the flagship.
You're absolutely correct, by the way. And that's the author's point. (Which I've been partial towards for a long time.) Hypersonic missiles are not the game changer they're claimed to be, and to the degree they open new tactical ground, the United States is well set to at the very least match adversaries' capabilities.
The thing with Kinzhal is that it is not maneuvering, but the Russian agitprop muddies the waters by focusing on the "hypersonic" part. However, as the article points out, an actual maneuvering hypersonic missile - which is something that all major players are working on - is indeed a major threat. It's just unlikely that Russia would have that any time soon, given the overall state of their technological development demonstrated during the war so far.
> an actual maneuvering hypersonic missile - which is something that all major players are working on - is indeed a major threat
I've heard Avangard lacks propulsive glide. That means it's ballistic in space, and only maneuverable (at the expense of range and speed) at the terminal phase. This is solvable because it's old tech–basically MIRVs.
You're absolutely correct, by the way. And that's the author's point. (Which I've been partial towards for a long time.) Hypersonic missiles are not the game changer they're claimed to be, and to the degree they open new tactical ground, the United States is well set to at the very least match adversaries' capabilities.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_%27super_weapons%27