The Russian army announced on Saturday that it had successfully carried out a new test launch of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, as Moscow intensifies its offensive in Ukraine.
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The Zircon missile was fired from the Admiral Gorchkov frigate in the Barents Sea at a target in Arctic White Sea waters, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The target located a thousand kilometers away "
has been successfully targeted
", according to the same source.
The firing was carried out as part of Russian "
tests of new weapons
", the statement added.
Maximum range of 1000 kilometers
The first official firing of a Zircon dates back to October 2020, when President Vladimir Putin hailed a "
great event
".
Other tests have since taken place, notably from the Admiral Gorchkov frigate and from a submerged submarine.
With a maximum range of around 1,000 kilometres, it must equip the surface ships and submarines of the Russian fleet.
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Russia, which launched an offensive in Ukraine on February 24, announced in March that it had used " Kinjal
" hypersonic missiles there
, an action in combat that seemed to be a first, Moscow having so far never reported the use of this type of weapon, except for trials.
The “ Kinjal
” hypersonic ballistic missiles and the “
Zircon
” cruise missiles
belong to a family of new weapons developed by Russia and which Vladimir Putin qualifies as “
invincible
”.