Russia carries out hypersonic missile test

Russia carries out hypersonic missile test

Russia announced on Saturday the latest successful test of their Zircon hypersonic cruise missile as its forces intensify their offensive in Ukraine.

The missile was fired from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate which is located in the Barents Sea and “succeeded in reaching” a target stationed at 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) in the White Sea in the Arctic, said the Ministry of Defense.

The ministry said the test was carried out as part of the “testing of new weapons”.

The first official Zircon test, described by President Vladimir Putin as a “big event”, took place in October 2020.

Further tests were conducted on the same frigate and a submerged submarine.

The latest test of a hypersonic weapon comes that Russia seems to be on the ground in its offensive launched in Ukraine at the end of February.

The weapon can reach speeds ranging from 5 to 10 times the speed of sound and has a maximum range of approximately 1000 kilometers.

In March, Moscow said it had used its highly precise hypersonic missile Kinzhal, or dagger, for the first time in combat.

Putin referred to missiles as a family of new “invincible” weapons in Russia’s arsenal.

The new generation of weapons, unveiled by Putin in 2018 is more difficult to track and intercept by missile defense systems than conventional weapons because of their velocity, but also because they are launched at a lower altitude toward their target.