Media: Hypersonic Russian Zircon missile reaches eight times the speed of sound
The Russian hypersonic Zircon missile reached a maximum speed greater than eight times the speed of sound during the tests, according to a source in Russia’s defense industry.
TASS reported that according to the source, the Zircon missiles can be launched from the same launchers that are used for the Kalibr and Oniks missiles.
The Zircon is designed to destroy ships. It will be part of the armament of new-generation submarines such as the fifth-generation, Husky-class, nuclear-powered submarines, as well as the Pyotr Velikiy heavy nuclear-powered battle cruiser.
Sea-based tests of the Zircon missile began in March 2016. At the time, the representative of the defense industry reported that the speed of the missile would be about 5 to 6 times the speed of sound.
In September, Boris Obnosov, the head of the Tactical Missile Corporation or KTRV predicted that hypersonic weapons would appear in Russia "at the beginning of the next decade." According to him, "it would be impossible to make hypersonic weapons from scratch” but that the technologies have already "reached the required level.”