The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation demonstrated the "hypersonic" missile "Zircon". The enemy agency published on the network footage from the exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, which took place on December 3.
Points of attention
- The Zircon missile can reach a speed of up to 9 M and have a range of 400 to 1,000 km.
- There is information that the weight of the warhead of the missile may be less than previously estimated.
- Some experts doubt that the Zircon is a real hypersonic missile because of the speed on the final flight path.
What does the Russian Zircon missile look like?
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the crews of the frigates "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" and "Admiral Golovko" fired hypersonic missiles "Zircon".
In the published video, the cylindrical casing that covers the nose part of the missile attracts the most attention. It is possible that it is fired after launch.
There is also a version that it is needed to protect the product from external damage.
In addition, you can see the booster block, which is located in the tail part of the rocket. However, it is quite difficult to see its structural features in detail on still images.
Both "Admiral Gorshkov" and "Admiral Golovko" (it was they who launched "Zirkons") belong to project 22350. These multi-purpose frigates are among the newest and most powerful surface ships of the Russian Navy. In addition to "Zircons", they can also carry, in particular, "Onyxes" and "Calibers".
What else is known about "Zirkon"
The Russian authorities still call the Zircon a "hypersonic" anti-ship missile that can reach speeds of up to 9 M (about 11,025 km/h) and has a range of 400 to 1,000 km.
Despite the fact that the weight of the combat part of the product was previously estimated at 300-400 kg, a new study of the wreckage of one of these missiles indicates that the weight of the 3M22 combat part actually reaches only 100-150 kg.
According to experts, this may not be enough for the guaranteed destruction of large ships, against which "Zirkon" was intended.
Some experts voiced the assumption that the 3M22 is not actually hypersonic, because on the final flight path it develops a speed of "only" about 4 M, while a real hypersonic missile should have a speed in the region of Mach 5.
