In this photo taken from video released on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021 by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, The Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Russian navy launches a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile in the White Sea. The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service next year. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. (Evgeny Paulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service
In this photo taken from video released on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021 by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, The Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Russian navy launches a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile in the White Sea. The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service next year. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
MOSCOW – Russia's navy has successfully test-fired a prospective hypersonic missile, the military said Monday.
The Defense Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the White Sea launched the Zircon cruise missile, hitting a practice target 400 kilometers (215 nautical miles) away. The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service next year.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zircon would be capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Putin has emphasized that its deployment will significantly boost the capability of Russia's military.
Zircon is intended to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines. It is one of several hypersonic missiles under development in Russia.
The Kremlin has made modernizing the country’s arsenals a top priority amid the tensions with the West that followed Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
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