Russia Tests Tsirkon Hypersonic Cruise Missile

Russia successfully test launched Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile in the Barents Sea on Tuesday.

“On October 6, 2020 from the White Sea, the lead frigate of Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov for the first time fired a hypersonic cruise missile ‘Zircon’ at a sea target located in the Barents Sea,” Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement today.

According to objective control data, the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile hit a sea target 450km away. The rocket speed was more than Mach 8.

Flight tests of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile will continue. Complex "Zircon" is planned to equip submarines and surface ships of the Navy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had stated in 2019 that the Tsirkon is capable of Mach 9 speed and its striking range capability can exceed 1,000 km and that there were plans to deploy Tsirkon on warships built for launching Kalibr cruise missiles.

Project 22350 frigates are multifunctional warships capable of effectively fighting surface, air and underwater adversaries, as well as striking ground targets at a distance of over 1,500km.