On July 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the latest cruise missile weapons against the Zircon hypersonic warship, saying that "no obstacles" could intercept the missile.
The Russian Armed Forces will begin receiving Zircon hypersonic missiles in the coming months, RT quoted President Putin as saying at the parade on Russian Navy Day in St.Petersburg. The first ship equipped with such a powerful weapon will be the Admiral Gorshkov mine ship, Putin added.
According to Mr. Putin, the precise deployment of small area ships will be chosen "in line with Russia's interests in maintaining security".
Also on July 31, President Putin signed a decree approving Russia's new Naval Academy. The revised theory reflects "geopolitical change" and seeks to enhance the resilience of the Russian Navy.
President Putin stated that the new Naval Academy of the Russian Federation publicly sets out the country's borders, including in the Arctic and Black Sea. Mr. Putin affirmed that the entire border will be resolutely protected with all means.
President Putin said that the Russian Navy is capable of " responding as quickly as a thunderstorm to anyone who dares to invade the sovereignty and freedom of the country".
Officially named 3M22 Zircon, the new weapon is the anti-ship hypersonic missile launched from sea. The missile was first announced by Mr. Putin in 2019.
The Zircon was first test launched from a naval ship in January 2020, in the northern Barents Sea, and hit a target on a training ground about 500km from shore.
The Zircon can move at a hypersonic speed of at least 9 Mach - more than 11,000km/h - while still retaining mobility. Such a speed makes it impossible for the missile to be intercepted effectively, and even cannot be detected by any existing air defense system, which is designed to deal with missiles with much slower speeds.
Considered an anti-ship cruise missile, the Zircon is said to be quite flexible and capable of hitting targets at sea and on land.
According to Mr. Putin, the first ship to be equipped with a Zircon is Admiral Gorshkov - a modern missile torpedo of the Russian Northern Fleet. In addition to the bulletins, hypersonic weapons will also be deployed on Russian subs. The first test launch from Zircon's subscate was carried out on the Severodvinsk nuclear subscate in October 2021.
The Zircon missiles are said to be suitable for standard tube launchers used to fire other types of bombs and bullets used by the Russian armed forces, such as the kalibr cruise missile or the Oniks anti-ship missile. In theory, such compatible capabilities allow the Zircon to suit any cruise missile carrier of the Russian Navy.
The operation plan of the new missile has never been clearly announced by Russia. In February, Igor Krokhmal, commander of Admiral Gorshkov, said the maximum distance that Zircon could cover was 1,500km.
