Military expert Knutov: the hypersonic missile "Zircon" cannot be detected using radar radars
On June 22, military expert Yuri Knutov told Izvestia about the technical characteristics of the Zircon hypersonic missile.
First of all, the expert noted that the missile is designed to defeat naval targets and possible strikes on ground targets. The rocket has a speed of more than 9 Mach, that is, about 11 thousand km / h, the flight range is up to 1 thousand km.
"Given how these missiles maneuver horizontally and vertically, it is impossible to predict where it will be in the next second. A rocket with a higher speed does not exist today. The peculiarity also lies in the fact that the rocket moves with an open plasma, and the plasma absorbs radar beams. As a result, the missile is not visible on radar radars," Knutov said.
What the missile can detect is the infrared satellites of the surveillance system, but they are tuned to ballistic missiles, not hypersonic, the expert noted. That is, today there are no such funds, concluded Knutov.
Earlier in the day, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, on the sidelines of the International Naval Salon in Kronstadt, announced that all frigates and corvettes under construction will be armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles. At the same time, the Navy will not abandon the use of cruise missiles of the previous generation.
On June 13, a source close to the Russian Navy said that the upgraded nuclear cruiser Admiral Nakhimov will be tested after repairs in September 2023. The main result of the modernization was the equipping of the vessel with Zircon missiles.
