The Russian navy continues testing the hypersonic missile "Zircon". Yesterday, July 19, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" successfully fired at a ground target.
"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 missile were confirmed. The flight speed was about Mach 7, " the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
Launch of the Zircon rocket
The lead frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" fired in the waters of the White Sea. The ground target was located on the coast of the Barents Sea. In October last year, the "Zircon" was tested against a surface target.
The creation of the Zircon missiles was completed in 2016. The military-industrial corporation NPO Mashinostroeniya is engaged in the development and production of a strike ship complex armed with Zircon missiles. Since hypersonic missiles are a promising development, information about them is classified. The Russian Defense Ministry plans to equip the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great with Zircon missiles, as well as multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the fifth generation of the Husky class, which are being developed by the Malachite design Bureau.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Zircon is a hypersonic version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a joint Russian — Indian development based on the P-800 Onyx missile. The first information about the appearance of hypersonic missiles in service with the Russian Navy appeared in October 2014.
