Russia's Kinzhals are frustrating Chinese analysts who want to find out how Beijing's hypersonic missiles might stack up against US battlefield defenses

• China has been watching the Kinzhal closely to see how it stacks up against US systems in Ukraine.
• Beijing hopes that its own hypersonic missiles will give it an edge over the US in a potential war.
• But some defense analysts in China are questioning Russia's performance with the missile.

Modern militaries have been looking to the war in Ukraine as a proving ground for advanced weapons. But observers in China hoping to study Russia's use of hypersonic missiles — one of the most-hyped tools in Beijing's own arsenal — are signaling they won't learn much from Moscow.