Moscow. September 3. INTERFAX-New Russian hypersonic missiles "Zircon" will be installed on Russian ships after the relevant decision of the military, the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) Alexey Rakhmanov said in an interview with Interfax on Friday.
"The decision on equipping our ships with one or another type of missiles in any case remains with the Ministry of Defense. When there is such a decision, we will implement it, " he said about the Zircon missiles.
On August 24, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the signing of a contract for the supply of hypersonic missiles "Zircon" (Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation, KTRV).
The military department reported on successful test launches of the "Zircon" from the frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov", in particular, in July of this year, as well as in December, November and October 2020.
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.
Serial deliveries of the Zircon naval missile to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are planned for 2022, Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said on January 29.
The Northern Fleet reported that the ships of the project 22350 will be the first regular carriers of this weapon.