Russia is developing hypersonic missiles against foreign aircraft carriers

The launch of the project 22350 frigate of the Admiral Gorshkov type was the first successful launch of the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile  belongs to Russia. The missile hit the ground target located at the military range of the Northern Urals the flight range was more than 500 km.

Russian 3M22 Zircon Anti-Ship (aircraft carrier) hypersonic missile

This is the third hypersonic complex after the ‘Dagger Aviation Hypersonic missile’, the ‘Avangard Ground Hypersonic missile’ and the first sea-based hypersonic complex in Russia. Although the test target was on land, foreign media believe that the target of this missile will be an aircraft carrier strike group.

Russia attaches great importance to the development of hypersonic weapons and currently has three types of hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic missiles “Avangard”, which are in service with the Strategic Missile Forces, carry out strategic strike missions.

The Dagger hypersonic missile system is being use by air force that has installed on the MiG-31M “Fox Hound” interceptors and performs operational and tactical missions.

Various surface ships and submarines of the Russian Navy can employ the 3M22 Zircon missile, it is being mainly design to destroy surface and ground targets at a remote distance.

Russian armed forces has tested their Zircon Hypersonic missile on MiG-31 Aircraft

According to foreign media, the Zircon missile is inherently a hypersonic anti-ship missile, in terms of the way it conducts operations, it adopts the tactics of supersonic breakthrough of an air defence system and delivering strikes against an area with continuous destruction at a remote distance, the same was used by the navy in Soviet times.

During the Cold War, faced with an aggressive U.S. aircraft carrier group, the Soviet Navy, thanks to space, air and sea-based reconnaissance systems, created a complex that allows attacking aircraft carriers using supersonic anti-ship missiles, based on surface, underwater and air launch platforms.

In this complex, supersonic anti-ship missiles launched from various platforms can create waves of attacks.

Specification of Zircon Hypersonic Anti-ship Missile

Before the Aegis missile defence system appeared, the Russian complex made it possible to detect, recognize and intercept the air targets of American ships, gradually balancing the anti-ship missile systems.

The Zircon rocket speed has increased to Mach 9, and the flight range reaches 1000s km. The missile can be launch at a safer distance, reducing the reaction time of the enemy ship’s anti-aircraft missile system.