Russia’s Putin deploys frigate with new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
- Russian President Vladimir Putin puts new Zircon hypersonic missile into service, deploys warship to the Atlantic Ocean
- Russia claims missiles can fly at nine times the speed of sound, and is practically unstoppable by anti-aircraft defences
President Vladimir Putin sent a frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, a signal to the West that Russia will not back down over the war in Ukraine.
Russia, China and the United States are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons which are seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary because of their speeds - above five times the speed of sound - and manoeuvrability.
In a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal, commander of the frigate named “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov”, Putin said the ship was armed with Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic weapons.
“This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system - ‘Zircon’,” said Putin. “I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats.”
The weapons, Putin said, had “no analogues in any country in the world”.
More than 10 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the war which has descended into a grinding winter artillery battle that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.