The Russian frigate “Admiral of the Soviet Navy Gorshkov” successfully fired a hypersonic missile “Zircon” against a ground target. The speed of the flight was 7 Mach, the distance – over 350 kilometers, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced, quoted by TASS.
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According to Moscow, the maximum speed of the missile is over 10,000 km / h, and the range is about 1,000 km.
“Flying at speeds above Mach 5 will provide so much kinetic energy that even a warhead full of concrete will cause a powerful explosion when it hits the ground or makes a hole in an aircraft carrier.“, claims a military expert from the publication National Interest.
The objective control established that the target was successfully hit by a direct hit. The test confirmed the tactical and technical characteristics of the Zircon missiles, the ministry said.
The missile was launched from the White Sea, and the target was located on the shores of the Barents Sea.
The Zircon complex will be armed with submarines and surface ships from the Russian Navy, the ministry said.
In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced hypersonic missiles as part of Russia’s new generation of weapons that can hit almost anywhere on the globe and evade US-backed missiles, according to Reuters.
Curiously, the last test was conducted on October 7 – the birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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