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 Seareported this Saturday its Ministry of Defense.
According to the official note, the missile was fired by the frigate Admiral Gorshkovas during other tests carried out last year and this time hit the target squarely “at a distance of 1,000 kilometers”the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Russia plans to equip with the “Tsirkon” both surface ships such as submarines.
The firing is part of “tests” conducted with new Russian weapons, the statement added.
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”. Other test firings have since been carried out, mostly from this frigate and from a submarine.
The “Tsirkon” missile has a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers and must 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 missilesa resource that had not been used officially 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”.
These launches coincide with the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and are part of the final phase of Russian hypersonic missile testswhich 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 the 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. Nevertheless, specialists also warn that there is some hype about these hypersonic missiles.
The Kinzhal it 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. Starting 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.
Chain CNN clarifies that in essence, all missiles are hypersonic, since 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)
KEEP READING:
How is “the Dagger”, the Russian hypersonic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and be undetectable
What you need to know about the hypersonic missiles Russia uses in Ukraine
Brutal attack on Odessa: Putin again used his next-generation Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in Ukraine
Source-www.infobae.com