Russian Navy to have nigh-unstoppable hypersonic missiles by 2018 – report

A hypersonic missile displayed at an exhibition at the Alexander Bereznyako Raduga Design Bureau © Sergey Mamontov / Sputnik

 

Russia’s military-industrial complex has shortened the timeframe for the introduction of the hypersonic missile by four years, moving the mass production of Zircon rockets from 2022 to 2018, TASS reports, citing a source in the industry.

“We plan to complete official tests in 2017 and start serial production a year later,” the source said.

Russia’s Monster Battlecruisers Are Getting Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missiles

The Russian Navy is set to upgrade its nuclear-powered Project 11442 Kirov-class battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky with a new hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile. The new Mach 5.0-capable 3M22 Zircon missiles would replace the ship’s existing 390-mile range P-700 Granit supersonic anti-ship missiles.

“The Pyotr Veliky will start repairs in the third or fourth quarter of 2019. Repairs and upgrade are due for completion in late 2022, the ship to be equipped with Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles,” a Russian defense industry source told the TASS news agency on February 19. “The missile is undergoing development testing and will enter service if it passes,” he added.