Russia has gotten one step closer to perfecting its hypersonic cruise missile as it again tested Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile on Monday (November 29)
The hypersonic cruise missile is the next level in advanced weapons design and as of now, Russia, the United States, France, and China have all been experimenting with hypersonic glide vehicles that would allow the missile to reach speeds of at least Mach 5.
The missile was fired from the warship Admiral Gorshkov as part of “the completion of tests” of Russia’s hypersonic missile weapons. The Tsirkon missile was launched in the Barents Sea at a range of 400 kilometers, and “the target was hit,” the Defense Ministry said.
Russia is working on equipping both its warships and submarines with the Tsirkon that has undergone a number of recent tests. If the missile is integrated with a submarine, it would pose even more danger to adversaries because it is almost impossible to shoot a missile traveling at mach5.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement of the development of the new weapon in a state of the nation address in February 2019 and said the missile could hit targets at sea and on land with a range of 1,000 kilometers and a speed of Mach 9.
Russia’s latest Tsirkon test came in the wake of a Chinese hypersonic glider test flight that was conducted in July when China claimed it successfully testes a missile that is five times the speed of sound over the South China Sea. However, China has claimed that it was a routine test of a reusable space vehicle.