Russia test-fires new hypersonic Tsirkon missiles from frigate, submarine

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he attends his annual close-of-calendar year news meeting in Moscow, Russia, December 23, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Russia test-fired all over 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles from a frigate and two extra from a submarine, Interfax news agency mentioned on Friday citing northern fleet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lauded the weapon as aspect of a new era of unrivalled arms methods.

Putin has called a missile take a look at, performed past 7 days, “a large occasion in the country’s lifetime”, incorporating that this was “a considerable stage” in growing Russia’s defence abilities.

Some Western professionals have questioned how innovative Russia’s new technology of weapons is, even though recognising that the combination of velocity, manoeuvrability and altitude of hypersonic missiles can make them tricky to keep track of and intercept.

Putin introduced an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018 in one of his most bellicose speeches in several years, saying they could strike pretty much any point in the environment and evade a U.S.-crafted missile shield.

Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Modifying by Louise Heavens

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