Vladimir Putin announced this Sunday, July 31, that the Russian fleet will soon acquire a new hypersonic cruise missile called the Zircon. According to him, “he knows no obstacle”.
Simple threat or new weapon of destruction? Always in touch with the Ukrainian army and with a desire to face NATO, Vladimir Putin announced this Sunday that his fleet would be equipped with the Zircon hypersonic missile. A delivery to be made “in the coming months”.
The Russian president used a naval parade in St. Petersburg to praise the “constant improvement” of his army’s military hardware, assuring that his fleet is “capable of inflicting a lightning reaction on anyone who decides to undermine our sovereignty and freedom.” “.
The “state-of-the-art Zircon hypersonic missiles that know no obstacles” have thus made the pride of the Russian leader.
Invincible?
Zircon (named after a mineral used in jewelry) is part of a range of new missiles and weapons promoted by the Kremlin: Avengard, Kinjal, Sarmat, Peresvet (battle laser), Poseidon (underwater drone) or Bourevestnik (nuclear missile). , in development).
All are considered “virtually invincible” by Vladimir Putin.
With zircon, this aspect would come from being “invisible” because it is undetectable by radar.
1,000 km range
Zircon cruise missiles have a maximum range of about a thousand kilometers.
Their tests have been running since October 2020. Last May, a test shot would have managed to hit its target in the White Sea in the Arctic, a thousand kilometers from where it started.
Mach 9
The Zircon rocket is expected to fly at a speed of Mach 9 (more than 11,000 km/h). It is intended to be fired from land, but particularly from frigates and submarines. His destinations are land and sea.
Deployed to protect Russia
According to Vladimir Putin, the Admiral Gorchkov frigate will be the first Russian ship to be equipped with these missiles, while this ship’s area of operations will be chosen according to “Russia’s security interests”.