The frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov performed a test firing of a hypersonic Zircon missile at a coastal target. This was announced on Thursday, December 16, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"The crew of the frigate of the Northern Fleet "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" performed another firing of a Zircon missile as part of the completion of a test cycle of hypersonic missile weapons. The shooting was carried out from the waters of the White Sea at a coastal target position located at the Chizha training ground in the Arkhangelsk region," the report says.
As told in the military department, the flight of the hypersonic missile corresponded to the specified parameters. Firing from the frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" was recognized as successful, the target was hit.
Surface ships and naval aviation of the Northern Fleet were involved in providing firing and closing the area.
Earlier, on December 15, the frigate of the Pacific Fleet "Marshal Shaposhnikov" in the Sea of Japan launched a missile of the newest anti-submarine complex "Response", which successfully hit an underwater target. The Ministry of Defense reported that universal launchers are used to launch anti-submarine missiles, which also allow the use of Onyx and Kalibr cruise missiles.
Earlier, on November 29, Admiral Gorshkov performed a new test launch of a hypersonic Zircon missile from the White Sea at a range of more than 400 km. Admiral Gorshkov carried out the previous launch of the Zircon rocket on November 18 at a sea target from the White Sea. The target was hit by a direct hit.
On November 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that hypersonic missiles "Zircon" will begin to arrive in the Navy from next year. The Head of State added that the tests carried out confirmed the uniqueness of the Peresvet (laser weapon complex) and Avangard complexes. Tests of the "Zircon" are currently being completed.
On October 4, tests of the Zircon hypersonic missile from a submarine were completed. The commander of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseev, said that as part of the test program, rocket firing was carried out from a launch vehicle from the Severodvinsk submarine (a nuclear submarine of project 885/885M).
Russian hypersonic weapons were presented in 2018. It includes the Avangard, Dagger and Zircon missiles.
