Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent the Northern Fleet frigate “Admiral Gorshkov” to the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic zircon cruise missile 3M22 Zircon [Tsirkon] or [NATO name] SS-N-33 that can fly at an altitude of 30-40 km with a payload at 300-400 kg and can carry nuclear or conventional warheads.
Putin confirmed the missile deployment in a video conference with his Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. He said a frigate has sailed toward the Atlantic for a training mission loaded with hypersonic Zircon cruise missile (Tsirkon) hypersonic weapons.
Putin labelled the missiles “unique in the world,” as Moscow sought to gain an edge over its Western adversaries during the ongoing military intervention in Ukraine. Russian Defense Ministry had ordered dozens of additional 3M22 Tsirkon hypersonic missiles and the delivery is to be completed by the end of 2023.
The first contract to supply the batch of Zircon or Tsirkons was signed in 2021, and the shipborne test-fire began from an underwater carrier, the nuclear-powered submarine Severodvinsk. It is manufactured by the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building (NPO mashinostroenia, part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation) in Reutov in the Moscow region at 3K-22 (Tsirkon code) complex.
Russian Navy, in 2023, is prepared to arm all the new and modernised surface ships and nuclear-powered submarines, including Project 22350 and Project 22350M frigates, the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruisers Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Veliky, Yasen-class submarines and Lider-class nuclear-powered destroyers slated for construction with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles, a military source in the defence industry told state-affiliated Tass, requesting anonymity.
Zircon’s initial test conducted over last year demonstrated that it can travel at a speed of up to 6,600 mph and hit targets at a distance of 1,000 kilometers. In April 2017, Russia claimed that Zircon had reached a speed of Mach 8 during a test, implying that this missile would be the fastest in the world, and maybe nearly impossible to defend due to its plasma cloud and speed.
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