On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has posted the video of the recent Tsirkon hypersonic missile test.
In a video posted by Russian MoD said that it is the launch of a new Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from Admiral Gorshkov frigate.
“Yesterday, at 7:15 a.m., the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov test-fired for the first time a Tsirkon hypersonic missile against a sea target located in the Barents Sea as part of flight tests,” Chief of Russia’s General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said.
As the chief of Russia’s General Staff said, “the tasks of the launch were fulfilled, the test-fire was recognized as successful and the missile was registered to accurately hit the target.”
“The missile flew to a range of 450 km, climbing to a maximum altitude of 28 km. The flight lasted four and a half minutes. The missile gained a hypersonic speed of over Mach 8 [eight times the speed of sound],” Gerasimov said.
After the state trials are over, the Tsirkon hypersonic missile system will be adopted for service on Russian Navy submarines and surface ships, he stressed.
Russia uses the 3S-14 universal shipborne launcher for the launches of Tsirkon hypersonic weapons and Kalibr cruise missiles. These launchers, in particular, are operational on Russian Navy Project 22350 frigates and Project 20380 corvettes.
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to continue the flight tests of the Tsirkon shipborne hypersonic missile system, Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Gerasimov said.
“The flight tests of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile will be continued,” the general said.