Ukraine war: Russia test-fires latest hypersonic Zircon missile with a range of 1,000km

The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service later this year

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Zircon is capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound and has a range of 1,000km

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Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Russian navy successfully launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Published: 8:56am, 29 May 2022Updated: 2:32am, 26 Aug 2022

The Russian navy on Saturday conducted another test of a prospective hypersonic missile, a demonstration of the military’s long-range strike capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.

The Defence Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Northern Fleet in the White Sea launched the Zircon cruise missile in the Barents Sea, successfully hitting a practice target in the White Sea about 1,000km (540 nautical miles) away.

The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service later this year.

Video released by the defence ministry showed the missile being fired from a ship and blazing into the sky on a steep trajectory.

The launch could spell trouble for Nato voyages in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Zircon, described as the world’s fastest non-ballistic missile, can be armed with either a conventional or a nuclear warhead, and is said to be impossible to stop with current anti-missile defence systems.

Launch came a week after Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that Russia would form new military units in the west of the country in response to Sweden and Finland’s bids to join Nato.