Tsirkon missile systems soon to be delivered to naval forces
President Vladimir Putin has promised unparalleled new weapons for his nation’s military. Making the announcement during Russia’s Navy Day on Sunday, Putin said the Tsirkon missile systems would be delivered to naval forces within the coming months.
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The biggest threats facing Russia
The declaration coincided with the ratification of a naval doctrine that says the determination of the US and its allies to “preserve their dominance in the world, including its oceans”, along with the expansion of NATO, are the biggest threats facing Russia.
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Areas from which NATO “must move away”
Putin listed in his speech the areas that he considers untouchable and from which NATO must move away: “Our Arctic zone, the waters of the Black, Okhotsk and Bering seas, and the Baltic and Kuril straits […] We will guarantee their defense firmly and by all means.”
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Tsirkon: the missile that the Russian Navy will soon carry
The missile that the ships of the Russian Navy will soon carry: the dreaded Tsirkon (also known as 3M22 Zircon), is a missile with terrifying characteristics.
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Hypersonic missile
The technological novelty introduced by this missile is its ability to exceed up to nine times the speed of sound. That is to say, this projectile would be able to strike down a target in a very short period of time.
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What speed does it reach?
According to Russian propaganda, Tsirkon could reach between 6,000 and 10,000 kilometers/hour (3,800-6,900 miles/hour).
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Bypassing defense systems
That extreme speed makes Western military circles speculate that Tsirkon could elude missile defense systems.
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Invisible to radars
The detailed Wikipedia entry on this missile states that “air pressure in front of it forms a cloud of plasma as it moves, absorbing radio waves and making it virtually invisible to active radar systems.”
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How far can a Tsirkon missile go?
The Russians claim that a Tsirkon missile can hit a target from 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) away almost instantly.
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Russia claims it has used it in Ukraine
According to The New York Times, Russia claimed in March that it had demolished an arms depot in Ukraine with a Tsirkon missile.
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It can strike both land and sea targets
The Russian armed forces indicated that the Tsirkon missile could strike both ground and sea targets, and was being developed at the renowned rocket-design bureau NPO Mashinostroyenia near Moscow, Newsweek reported.
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A commitment to large-scale rearmament
According to the official Tass agency, “The Reutov-based Research and Production Association is serially producing Tsirkon hypersonic missiles. The defense firm is working to extend the missile’s operational range.”
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The United States also seeks to achieve such a missile
Russia and China have advanced in the investigation of this type of hypersonic weapons. According to The New York Times, “the Pentagon has requested $3.8 billion for hypersonic research in fiscal year 2022.”
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Successful hypersonic missile tests
In fact, Reuters reported in July 2022 that two Lockheed Martin Corp hypersonic missile tests had been successfully conducted.
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Detection and deactivation
But, also according to Reuters, in parallel to the experimentation with hypersonic missiles, the US military industry is rapidly investigating systems to detect and deactivate these projectiles in case the enemy launches them.
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The need for an efficient shield
A shield against hypersonic missiles is urgent if they can, in fact, circumvent current defense systems as it is thought by Western military circles.
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The return of the arms race
The arms race that went on during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the United States pointed their missiles at each other, seems to have returned.
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