The state tests of the hypersonic missile "Zircon" from the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" will be held in June this year. This was announced on Thursday, May 20, TASS reports, citing sources in the military-industrial complex.
"The first launch of the Zircon in the framework of state tests from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov is planned to be carried out in June," said one of the agency's interlocutors.
The second source said that a total of four launches of the hypersonic missile will be carried out within the framework of state tests.
The NPO Mashinostroyeniya (part of the corporation "Tactical Missile Weapons"), where they developed and produce "Zircons", did not comment on this information to the agency.
On May 16, a source in the shipbuilding industry told RIA Novosti that tests of the missile system with a hypersonic missile "Zircon" with a surface launch are planned to be completed by the end of the summer. According to the interlocutor of the agency, the tests will be conducted from the board of the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov", several shots are planned at both sea and land targets. It is possible that multiple rocket launchers will be fired simultaneously at a land and sea target.
The source noted that the first regular carriers of hypersonic missiles will be the frigates of the project 22350 "Admiral Kasatonov" and "Admiral Gorshkov".
On May 12, the Ministry of Defense announced that the frigate of the Northern Fleet "Admiral Gorshkov" went to Severodvinsk, where it will conduct the final test launches of hypersonic missiles "Zircon".
Last year, the Ministry of Defense told about the successful tests of the world's first hypersonic missiles "Zircon" to equip warships. They were launched several times from the frigate project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov". As noted, in the future, this type of ammunition will be equipped with new modernized ships and submarines of the Russian Navy.
The "Zircon" is the world's first hypersonic cruise missile capable of long-term aerodynamic flight with maneuvering in the dense layers of the atmosphere using the thrust of its own engine throughout the entire route. The speed of the rocket reaches about nine speeds of sound (about 2.65 km per second at an altitude of 20 km). The maximum range of the missile is stated at 1 thousand km.
