“President Vladimir Putin has scared everyone again, this time with the supply of Zircon hypersonic missiles. Putin said that such missiles already exist and are starting to enter service. The American expert portal Defense News said it’s appalling and shameful that we’re so far behind.
The speed of this rocket is Mach 9, which is 2800 meters per second with a range of 1000 kilometers. Modern Western missile defense systems cannot hit missiles that fast.
“The West’s fears about Russian Zircons are quite justified,” the military expert, reserve captain 1st rank Vasily Dandykin told socialbites.ca. – They know about their expected characteristics, possible carriers, American intelligence watched the test launches as carefully as they could, but the results are disappointing – it is impossible to stop a Russian missile with inhibitory speed. This requires weapons with at least approximate characteristics, and neither the United States nor other countries have them yet.”
The specialist emphasized that the feature of the air-based hypersonic Kinzhal, as well as anti-ship Zircons, is not only in speed, but also in the possibility of powerful maneuvering at the final stage of the trajectory, while maintaining its speed characteristics.
“No one knows where this rocket flew. Even the one who started it. He chooses the path to the goal himself. Warheads, unlike ballistic missiles, are small – 300-400 kilograms, but even this is enough to guarantee hitting both an aircraft carrier and a protected object on land, ”added Dandykin.
It is known that the first carrier of hypersonic missiles “Zircon” will be the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”, on which test launches took place. At the same time, the missile can be launched from UKKS launchers – 3S14 Universal Ship Launching Systems, manufactured by the Morinformsystem-Agat concern, installed on the newest ships of the Russian Navy. Of these, anti-ship missiles P-800 “Onyx” and “Caliber” were launched. Thus, “Zircons” can be used even by small missile ships from the Baltic and Black Sea waters with a range of thousands of kilometers, both at sea and on land.
In addition to surface ships, Zircon will be put on nuclear submarines of Project 835M Yasen-M. From such a boat – Severodvinsk – Zircons were launched in the Barents Sea in October 2021.
“Furthermore, Zircons have also been “sharpened” for coastal missile systems. By analogy with the P-800 Onyx supersonic anti-ship missile, known for its export as the Yakhont. It is used on surface and submarine ships and is also part of the Bastion coastal system complex. Zircon has the same range capabilities, but many times faster, military expert Sergei Belousov told socialbites.ca.
Belousov added that Russia has gained a tremendous advantage in the defense sector thanks to new military developments that are unique in the world.
“Hisonic missiles occupy a special place here precisely because of the absence of opposition from the enemy. Just a month ago, another test of the American Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile failed. They want to put it on the ships too. It is possible that foreign development of such weapons will progress, and the United States will complete the tests. But we are already one step ahead. It is important that the country does not know how to deal with it until they master hypersound technology. The developers of the S-500 claim that their complex can fight hypersonic missiles. So the American hypersonic will no longer scare us, ”says the expert.