According to the Kremlin, the new rocket can develop a speed nine times greater than the speed of sound and hit land and sea targets at a range of more than 1,000 kilometres. Moscow plans to equip both surface ships and submarines with this weaponry
A 30-barrel 220mm multiple rocket launcher system mounted on a T-72 ‘Buratino’ during a dynamic exhibition at the International Military Technical Forum “”Army 2018″”, in a file photograph. EFE/Sergei Ilnitsky
Russia carried out a new test of its hypersonic cruise missile “Tsirkon” from a ship in the Barents Sea against a target in the waters of the White Sea, its Defense Ministry reported this Saturday.
According to the official note, the missile was fired by the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”, as during other tests carried out last year, and on this occasion hit full on the target “at a distance of 1,000 kilometers”, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia plans to equip with the “Tsirkon” both surface ships such as submarines.
The firing is part of the “tests” carried out with new Russian weapons, the statement added.
FILE PHOTO: The Russian Admiral Gorshkov guided-missile frigate fires the Tsirkon hypersonic missile during exercises by nuclear forces at an unknown location, in this still image taken from a video released on February 19, 2022 (REUTERS)
The first official firing of a “Tsirkon” dates back to October 2020 and at that time the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, congratulated himself on this “great event”. Since then other test firings have been carried out, mainly from this frigate and from a submarine.
The “Tsirkon” missile has a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers and is to equip the ships and submarines of the Russian fleet.
Russia announced in March that it had used in its offensive in Ukraine, which began in February, Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, a resource that it had not officially used until now, except for tests.
“Kinzhal” hypersonic ballistic missiles and cruise missiles “Tsirkon” belong to a family of new weapons developed by Russia that Putin describes as “invincible”.
< /p>Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in a file image (EFE)
These launches coincide with the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and are part of the final phase of tests of the Russian hypersonic missile, which the Navy could begin receiving this year.
According to the Russian authorities, the new missile can develop a nine times the speed of sound and hit land and sea targets at a range of more than a thousand kilometers.
Why the West downplays hypersonic capabilities of Russian Kinzhal missiles
In his speech on March 1, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented six “new generation” weapons. One of them was the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (“dagger” in Russian), a hypersonic ballistic missile capable of flying at more than five times the speed of sound. This rocket was used by Russian troops in Ukraine to carry out attacks in the Odessa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
More than two months after the beginning of the invasion on February 24, the Moscow regime did not achieve the expected results. For this reason, the Western powers consider that Putin uses this type of weaponry to show military muscle. However, specialists also warn that there is some hype about these hypersonic missiles.
Kinzhal can travel low to the ground, making it impossible for air defenses and fighter jets to neutralize. (DEF file)
The Kinzhal has the ability to fly at Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound in some versions and up to Mach 10 in others, being able to reach up to 12,350 kilometers per hour. From Mach 5, the speed is already considered hypersonic.
In addition, it can carry a 1,000-kilogram conventional bomb or a nuclear warhead and has a fire range of up to 2,000 kilometers, the distance between Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile or São Paulo.
The chain CNN clarifies that essentially, all missiles are hypersonic, since that almost any warhead launched from a rocket miles into the atmosphere will reach this speed in the direction of its target. This means that it is not a new technology.
Military powers such as China, the United States, North Korea, and Russia itself, are currently working in the development of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). Its particularity is that it is highly manoeuvrable, and that it can adjust heading and altitude while flying at hypersonic speed, making it an almost impossible weapon to stop.
(With information from EFE and AFP)