Judging by the video published by the agency, the rocket launch took place at night
Moscow. October 4. INTERFAX - The Russian military conducted the first test launch of a hypersonic missile "Zircon" from a submarine.
Prior to that, the launches of the Zircon were carried out from a surface ship.
"The Russian Navy for the first time conducted tests of the hypersonic missile "Zircon" from the nuclear submarine "Severodvinsk". The shooting was carried out at a conditional naval target in the Barents Sea," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"According to objective control data, the rocket flight corresponded to the specified parameters, it hit a conditional target. The test firing of a Zircon missile from a nuclear submarine has been recognized as successful," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday morning published footage of the launch of the "Zircon" submarine. Judging by the video, the shooting was conducted at night.
Prior to that, the military reported successful test launches of the Zircon from the frigate of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation Admiral Gorshkov, in particular, in July of this year, as well as in December, November and October 2020.
Serial deliveries of the Zircon naval missile to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are scheduled for 2022, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on January 29.
On August 24, at the Army-2021 forum, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the signing of a contract for the supply of new hypersonic naval missiles "Zircon" (Tactical Missile Armament Corporation, KTRV).
In February 2019, in a message to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Zircon missile would be capable of hitting ground and surface targets at a range of over 1,000 kilometers at a speed of about Mach 9 (mAch is the speed of sound).
In December 2019, the president said that according to the plan, work is underway on the Zircon hypersonic missile, not only sea-based, but also land-based.
Severodvinsk, which tested the Zircon missile, is a multi-purpose nuclear submarine of the fourth generation. It was accepted into the Russian Navy in 2014.
Russia has gone far ahead in the field of creating hypersonic weapons and weapons based on new physical principles, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on September 17.
"For many years we have been trying to keep up with or catch up with the leading weapons developments of Western countries. And for the first time in all this time, we pulled ahead. In the field of creating hypersonic weapons," Borisov said at the time.
According to him, Russia is also ahead of the West in the field of "creating weapons based on new physical principles." He said that "new types of engines are used for these weapons - compact nuclear installations of low power."
The former chief of the General Staff of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Viktor Yesin, told Interfax on September 30 that Russia, the United States and China currently have hypersonic missile technologies. Yesin then questioned the statement of the DPRK military about the successful tests of a hypersonic missile on September 28.
