(JustPatriots.com)- According to a report, Vladimir Putin plans to release hypersonic Zircon missiles during his upcoming war games with China and South Africa.
During naval exercises off the coast of South Africa, the Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov will launch the new Mach 9-capable, nuclear-capable Zircon missiles, which travel at speeds of nearly 7,000mph.
The Russian-developed 3M22 Zircon or SS-N-33 is a maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile, according to the Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).
The Zircon’s range is believed to be 500 km at low altitudes and up to 750 km on a semi-ballistic trajectory, but the state-run media in Russia claims it to be 1,000 km. It is a two-stage missile with a scramjet motor in the second stage and solid fuel in the first stage.
This missile was also installed in the Admiral Nakhimov, a Kirov-class battlecruiser. They were installed in the Pyotr Velikiy, a Kirov-class battlecruiser, in 2022.
The Admiral Gorshkov conducted an electronic launch last week at an enemy surface target as it sailed in the western Atlantic off the coast of the United States.
From February 17 to February 27, Russia, China, and South Africa will participate in war games off the east coast of South Africa, close to the cities of Durban and Richards Bay.
The arrival of the Zircon missiles, which Putin has previously claimed have no equivalent in the world, comes at a crucial moment for Russia following numerous setbacks in Ukraine.
According to a report from April 2017, a test of the Zircon revealed that it could travel at a speed of Mach 8. The Zircon missile would be the fastest in the world if the information is accurate, making it nearly impossible to defend against due to its speed alone.
Its plasma cloud is another valuable feature of the missile. A plasma cloud surrounds the missile in its entirety while it is in flight, absorbing all radio frequency rays and rendering the missile unobservable to radars. As a result, as it travels toward the target, the missile can remain undetected.
