Russia says it successfully launched a hypersonic cruise missile on Vladimir Putin's birthday. The country claimed that the test-launch held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, successfully hits a target in the Barents Sea.
President of Russia and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin makes a speech in Red Square during a Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II, on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. The 75th-anniversary marks the end of the Great Patriotic War when the Nazi's capitulated to the then Soviet Union.
The Russian president hailed the launching of 3M22 Zircon, a scramjet-powered maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile. He said that it was an important event for the country since the test contributes to the nation's security.
Putin also thanked all the people behind the successful project, including Sergei Shoigu, the Defense Minister, and Valery Gerasimov, the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff.
"I would like to thank all of you for the work done, for its results and express hope that in the future all of the specialists involved in the rearmament of the Russian military will [continue to] work as efficiently and as persistently as it has done to this point," he said during a video meeting with the General Staff.
On the other hand, General Gerasimov said that the hypersonic missile hit its target 280 miles away in four and a half minutes. He added that the weapon was able to develop a speed of over Mach 8.
A video of the hypersonic missile's launch was posted on Twitter
The Russian Defense Ministry published a video of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile's launch from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the White Sea. In the video posted by "Телеканал 360°," it can be seen that an open launch container situated on the ship's upper deck sent the missile into the air.
Фрегат «Адмирал Горшков» выполнил успешный пуск гиперзвуковой ракеты «Циркон» из Белого моря на дальность 440 км.
По словам начальника Генштаба ВС, она успешно поразила морскую мишень в Баренцевом море. При этом скорость звука ракетой была превышена в восемь раз. pic.twitter.com/w7bnFWHcZc — Телеканал 360° (@360tv) October 7, 2020
The weapon circled the sky before flying towards its target in the Barents Sea. The Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Project 22350's lead vessel had fired the hypersonic cruise missile.
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Written by: Giuliano de Leon.
