Just How Powerful Is Russia's Iskander Missile? (And Where Did It Get Its Nickname From?)

The Russian Federation's Iskander missile has been featured in the news of late, as the nation has plans or has already stationed a missile brigade equipped with them in Crimea. There are several versions of the Iskander, and while they aren't Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), all of them are considered short-range ballistic missile systems with a maximum range of 310 miles. While that may not sound like a great distance, these missiles are currently, and have been for some time, threatening eastern European nations.

The Crimean missiles are stationed in key strategic locations so they can be used to strike as far as Turkey, Romania, and other locations nearby, though their placement suggests they're situated best to strike at targets throughout Ukraine. Others are found near Kaliningrad, endangering cities in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Sweden. These are dangerous weapons of war that are well within reach of numerous European cities, and this has been true since the Iskander missile system was first introduced in 2006. The name is a reference to none other than Alexander the Great, as it's a derivation of the Greek form of that name. 

The name Alexander typically means "Defender of Mankind," though as an offensive weapon, the Iskander missile is more of a defender of the Russian Federation and the nations to which it exports the missile. Unsurprisingly, the 9K270 Iskander is a powerful surface-to-surface missile capable of bringing great destruction to its targets via conventional and nuclear warheads. The Russian News Agency claims that a single warhead delivered by an Iskander-M missile is capable of taking out an area of 82,021 square feet. They were first used in combat operations during the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.

While not the largest surface-to-surface missile system in the Russian arsenal, the current variant, Iskander-M, packs a punch. The missile measures 24 feet in length with a diameter of 3.02 feet. Two missiles can be carried and fired from a single mobile transporter-erector-launcher (TEL). The Iskander's payload options include high-explosive, submunition, Earth-penetration, and thermobaric nuclear, though the latter has fortunately not been used in combat, as Iskanders are, as of early 2025, only used in conventional warfare.

An Iskander-M can carry a payload weighing between 1,058 and 1,543 lbs., which accommodates the various types of highly destructive warheads at the Russian military's disposal. Iskander missiles use a single-stage solid propellant for fuel, and the newest Iskander-K variant, a cruise missile, is believed capable of reaching targets much further away. Some sources suggest the Iskander-K's reach extends to 1,243 miles, which significantly increases the potential target list of European cities currently outside the Iskander-M's range.

Like most ballistic missiles, the Iskander is a hypersonic vehicle. It can reach speeds of Mach 7 (5,371 mph) to a height of 30 miles, making it challenging to shoot down. In May 2025, an Iskander missile destroyed a Patriot Air Defense System that was guarding the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk. Seeing as the Patriot is used to shoot such threats out of the sky, it's easy to see that the Iskander is a powerful and deadly threat. Each Iskander missile costs around $3 million in U.S. dollars, and while it's unclear how many Russia has, in 2023, Ukraine estimated that five were added to the arsenal each month.