Putin Places Warship Armed With “Invincible” Zircon Missiles On Fight Obligation

President Vladimir Putin despatched a frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new technology hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, a sign to the West that Russia won’t again down over the warfare in Ukraine.

Russia, China and the USA are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons that are seen as a solution to achieve an edge over any adversary due to their speeds – above 5 instances the pace of sound – and manoeuvrability.

In a video convention with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal, commander of the frigate named “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov”, Putin mentioned the ship was armed with Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic weapons.

“This time the ship is supplied with the newest hypersonic missile system – ‘Zircon’,” mentioned Putin. “I’m positive that such highly effective weapons will reliably defend Russia from potential exterior threats.”

The weapons, Putin mentioned, had “no analogues in any nation on the planet”.

Greater than 10 months since Putin despatched troops into Ukraine, there isn’t any finish in sight to the warfare which has descended right into a grinding winter artillery battle that has killed and wounded tens of hundreds of troopers on each side.

Russia has additionally used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles in Ukraine.

Together with the Avangard hypersonic glide car which entered fight responsibility in 2019, the Zircon varieties the centrepiece of Russia’s hypersonic arsenal.

Russia sees the weapons as a solution to pierce more and more refined U.S. missile defences which Putin has warned might sooner or later shoot down Russian nuclear missiles.

Atlantic Voyage

Shoigu mentioned the Gorshkov would sail to the Atlantic and Indian oceans and to the Mediterranean Sea.

“This ship, armed with ‘Zircons’, is able to delivering pinpoint and highly effective strikes in opposition to the enemy at sea and on land,” Shoigu mentioned.

Shoigu mentioned the hypersonic missiles might overcome any missile defence system. The missiles fly at 9 instances the pace of sound and have a spread of over 1,000 km, Shoigu mentioned.

The primary duties of the voyage have been to counter threats to Russia and to take care of “regional peace and stability collectively with pleasant international locations”, Shoigu mentioned.

A U.S. Congressional Analysis Service report on hypersonic weapons says that Russian and Chinese language hypersonic missiles are designed for use with nuclear warheads.

The goal of a hypersonic weapon is way more tough to calculate than for intercontinental ballistic missiles due to their manoeuvrability.

Past Russia, the USA and China, a spread of different international locations are creating hypersonic weapons together with Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, North Korea and Japan, in keeping with the U.S. Congressional Analysis Service.

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