![]() ![]() Zircon will be the first sea-based hypersonic weapon in any navy. The first submarine launched test is scheduled for 2020. Zircon has flown several flight tests and appears close to deployment on Russian Navy ships, particularly its new frigates and submarines but also older ships such as the Kirov-class battlecruisers. Zircon was meant to be compatible with older Russian Navy ships in order to give them a new, updated weapon system. A hypersonic missile, it was supposedly being designed to travel at speeds in excess of Mach 5. Zircon was first mentioned in the mid-2010s. Kalibr is much slower than Zircon but the latter would launch in a similar fashion. Russian warships launching Kalibr land attack missiles against targets in Syria. Now Irkutsk will carry Zircon missiles, presumably for the same mission. Navy aircraft carriers and other high value targets. In wartime, Irkutsk and her sister ships were meant to hunt down and destroy U.S. Irkutsk, currently under modernization, was built in 1988 as a cruise missile submarine designed to carry up to 24 P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles. ![]() For example, the older cruise missile submarine Irkutsk, known to NATO as part of the Oscar-class, is known within Russia as part of the Project 949A class. Russian warships are typically known internally as a project number. The head of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation, Alexei Rakhmanov, told reporters that Zircon will arm “all the new Projects of ships” for the Russian Navy. Zircon is reportedly capable of striking both ground and naval targets and is likely so fast as to make it unstoppable against modern naval defenses. According to the head of Russia’s main warship manufacturer, all modern warships serving in the Russian Navy and those on the drawing board will carry the weapon. Navy might not be able to stop.Īll of Russia’s new and upcoming warships will carry a new hypersonic missile capable of traveling nearly 7,000 miles per hour.
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