New test by Russia for the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, one of the jewels of the arsenal promoted by Vladimir Putin , just two weeks after the previous launch. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense of Moscow, which communicated the success of the maneuvers conducted by the frigate Admiral Gorchkov against a target in the waters of the White Sea, in the Arctic, located over 400 kilometers away from the naval unit and “destroyed “.
And the fourth missile test in a few months. Beyond that of two weeks ago (very similar to today’s launch), in October the Zircon marked the first launch for a hypersonic carrier from a nuclear-powered submarine, the Yasen-class Severodvinsk (Ssgn category, nuclear-powered submarines with missile launchers). Also on that occasion the Russian Defense had communicated the “success” of the test, which ended in the Barents Sea, during which the carrier would have reached nine times the speed of sound, traveling at over three kilometers per second.
As noted by the Missile Threath portal of the authoritative CSIS, American intelligence had already reported the first tests on the vector in 2015, followed by another more relevant (in terms of distance) in December in 2018. The official plans were unveiled by Vladimir Putinin February 2019 during the annual speech in the Duma. The president then confirmed the entry into service of the Zircon in 2022, also announcing that the missile would be capable of reaching Mach 9 with a range of one thousand kilometers. The objective has been centered on speed, for a carrier that presents itself as a hypersonic cruise missile launchable by naval and submarine units, with prevailing anti-ship functions and described by (Russian) experts as “invincible”, both because it is invisible to radar, both for the high speed it can reach, and for the cloud of heat that surrounds it during the flight and that would allow it to absorb radio frequency rays. Just scroll through the Russian Defense website to get an idea of the test frequency for the Zircon missile.
On 7 October 2020, the test from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, located in the White Sea, was the gift of the Russian Navy for President Putin’s 68th birthday. On that occasion the Zircon traveled for 450 kilometers at a maximum height of 28 kilometers, taking four and a half minutes to reach the goal set in the Barents Sea and reaching Mach 8. Another test dates back to last July, also in this case from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, with the missile that would successfully hit the target located 350 kilometers away, reaching Mach 9. “Several” others followed the following December as part of the frigate’s campaign in the northern seas.
The test last July brought forward the military parade for the 325th anniversary of his Navy by a few days. “We can detect enemies underwater, on the surface or in the air and target them, if necessary, with a lethal attack,” Putin explained, attending the maneuvers in the Neva bay, in St. Petersburg, with over fifty ships and submarines. “The work on the Zircon system and the successful tests of this missile are a great event in the life of both the Armed Forces and the whole of Russia,” added the president.
A few weeks ago, live on television, the Russian president relaunched the theme: “It is particularly important to develop and adopt the technologies necessary to create new hypersonic weapon systems, high-power lasers and robotic systems that will allow us to effectively counter any military threats, and therefore to further strengthen the security of our country “.
On the other hand, the carrier in question is part of a variegated and already extensively tested arsenal, even in operational scenarios. In June 2017, a Russian naval unit launched 26 Kalibr missiles from the Caspian Sea against ISIS positions in Syria. On that occasion they traveled about 1,500 kilometers, flying at a few tens of meters of altitude (thus remaining difficult to identify by radar) and accelerating in the final phase of the flight. Kalibr are cruise missiles with stealth capabilities, the development of which dates back to the Soviet attempt to respond to the American Tomahawks.
The attention reserved by Russia to hypersonics appears to be impressive, considered by experts to be the real “game changer” of future operational scenarios. In December 2018, the Russian Defense tested the Avangard, a hypersonic glide missile, capable of overcoming the atmosphere like an ascending ballistic missile, and then re-entering it at hypersonic speed, changing trajectory and increasing unpredictability. Also on that occasion, Putin personally intervened for the test, announcing his commissioning of the system by 2019. It was added, among other things, to the tests carried out in the previous months on the aviation-launched “invincible” hypersonic cruise missile. (the Khinzal, literally dagger), as well as on the ballistic missile rather than the intercontinental Satan 2. As for the Zircon, industrial sources told Tass that there should be a second submarine launch test by the end of the year. The actual deliveries to the Russian Navy are expected in 2022 and therefore the entry into service.
It is precisely the hypersonic race of Russia (and China) that has convinced the United States to accelerate on the issue for some years. And the recent assignment of a development contract by the Missile defense agency (Mda) to three giants in the sector for the development of a hypersonic interceptor that will have to neutralize potential threats in different regional contexts. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Missiles and Defense were called in to design the “Glide phase interceptor” (Gpi).
