Hypersonic can travel at more than five times the speed of sound (Representational)
Moscow:
Russia said on Thursday it had conducted another successful test of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, the latest addition to the country’s arsenal of weapons called “invincible” by President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow has touted arms development in recent years, hoping it would give it an edge over any arms race with the United States at a time of rising tensions with the West.
Hypersonics can travel at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuver in mid-flight, making them much harder to track and intercept than a conventional projectile.
The military said on Thursday that it fired a Zircon missile from the Admiral Gorshkov warship and struck a test target in Russian Arctic waters.
In a statement carried by news agencies, Russia’s defense ministry said “the firing was carried out on a sea target in the waters of the White Sea.”
It said the missile hit its target with a “direct hit”.
The Zircon has already undergone several tests in recent years, including another launch by Admiral Gorshkov and a submerged submarine.
Putin used his address to the nation in 2018 to reveal new hypersonic weapons, including the zircon, saying it could hit targets at sea and on land with a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).
The Zircon is set to join the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles that were put into service in 2019 and the air-launched Kinjal (Dagger) missiles in Russia’s arsenal.
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