For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, the Zircon hypersonic missile was launched from a submerged position from the Severodvinsk nuclear submarine cruiser, the press service of the Defense Ministry told Vedomosti.
“The second test firing of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile was carried out by the crew of the Severodvinsk nuclear submarine missile cruiser for the first time from a submerged position, from a depth of 40 m in the White Sea at a conditional sea target in the Barents Sea,” the ministry said. The missile successfully hit the target, its flight from leaving the water to hitting the conditional target fully corresponded to the specified parameters, added to the Ministry of Defense.
Prior to that, the day before, the Zircon was fired for the first time from the Severodvinsk, but from the surface. It was the first ever launch of a hypersonic missile from a submarine.
In July 2021, the Ministry of Defense announced the successful tests of the Zircon. Then the rocket was launched from the board of the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov” and, having covered more than 350 km, hit a ground target. The performance characteristics of the product were confirmed, the ministry noted then. On August 24, the ministry announced the start of bulk purchases of these sea-based hypersonic anti-ship missiles. The Zircon’s flight speed was about Mach 7 (Mach 1 = 1193.256 km / h).
Hypersonic weapons in Russia were presented in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition to the Zircon missiles, this includes the Dagger and Avangard complexes.
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