MOSCOW. July 27 (Interfax) - Tests of the Russian-made Tsirkon system are close to completion after the new hypersonic sea-launched missile was successfully test-fired from a Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The tests of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile are also close to a successful completion. The test launches conducted from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate have confirmed that this missile has unique performance specifications with regard to the range and accuracy of shooting and the hypersonic speed of its flight," the Defense Ministry said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Sunday.
The Russian Navy will receive hypersonic weapons that have no analogues in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said when speaking at the main naval parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday.
"Unique advantages and improved combat capabilities will be achieved by way of broadly introducing cutting-edge digital technologies, hypersonic strike systems that have no analogues in the world, unmanned underwater vehicles, and utmost effective defense means," Putin said.
Last March, Northern Fleet Commander Alexander Moiseyev said that the fleet's submarines planned to begin the testing of hypersonic weapons shortly. In November 2019, the military said that the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, one of the most advanced Russian naval ships, was preparing for testing new missiles.
On December 2, 2019, President Putin said that increasing the capabilities of the Russian Navy in the next few years largely depended on planned provision to the military of frigates and submarines adjusted for Tsirkons.
In February 2019, Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly that the Tsirkon missile would be capable of hitting ground and surface targets at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers at a speed of some Mach 9.
The Russian state-of-the-art ships are being equipped with the UKSK 3S14 vertical launcher. As reported, the launcher is standardized to fire several types of the Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as other missiles, in particular, the Tsirkon hypersonic missiles.