Washington. July 19. INTERFAX - The Pentagon has seen reports about the test of a hypersonic Zircon missile in Russia and believes that such weapons have a destabilizing effect, said John Kirby, a representative of the US military department.
At the briefing, answering a journalist's question, he did not comment on the test firing, noting only that the Pentagon is "aware of these allegations."
"It is important to note that the new Russian hypersonic missiles can have a destabilizing effect and pose serious risks," Kirobi added.
"The contrast is that the United States, for its part, is developing hypersonic systems that are not designed to deliver nuclear charges at all," he added.
Earlier on Monday, it became known that the Russian military conducted another test of the hypersonic cruise missile "Zircon".
"In the waters of the White Sea, the lead frigate of the project 22350" Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov " fired a hypersonic cruise missile "Zircon" at a ground target located on the coast of the Barents Sea," the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
"According to objective control data, the Zircon missile successfully hit a target at a range of over 350 km with a direct hit. During the tests, the tactical and technical characteristics of the Zircon rocket were confirmed. The flight speed was about Mach 7, " the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It is planned to equip submarines and surface ships of the Russian Navy with the Zircon complex, the Defense Ministry noted.
The military department reported on successful test launches of the Zircon from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, in particular, in December, November and October 2020.
The lead frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov" is one of the most modern ships of the Russian Navy. On April 23 of this year, the Northern Fleet announced that Admiral Gorshkov will complete the test of hypersonic weapons this year. The ships of this project will be the first regular carriers of such weapons, the navy said.
Serial deliveries to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of the Zircon missile (Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation, KTRF) are planned for 2022, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Krivoruchko said on January 29.
In February 2019, in a message to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced that the Zircon missile would be capable of hitting ground and surface targets at a range of more than 1 thousand kilometers at a speed of about Mach 9.
In December 2019, Putin said that according to the plan, work is underway on a hypersonic missile "Zircon" not only sea-based, but also land-based.
