Russia announced on Sunday that it had launched a Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic cruise missile at a designated target in the Barents Sea, while Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic fighter-bombers conducted strikes as part of joint military exercises with Belarus.
Russia’s “Zapad”, or West, joint strategic exercise with Belarus began on September 12, aiming to improve military command and coordination in the event of an attack on either Russia or Belarus, the Russian defence ministry said.
‘Exclusively Defensive’ Exercises
Moscow and Minsk have said the exercises are exclusively defensive and that they do not intend to attack any member of NATO, though the United States-led military alliance announced an “Eastern Sentry” operation after the incursion of Russian drones into Poland on September 9-10.
Russia’s defence ministry released footage of the Northern Fleet’s Admiral Golovko frigate firing a Zircon hypersonic missile at a target in the Barents Sea.
Vertical Launch
The footage showed a missile being launched vertically from the frigate and then powering off at an angle into the horizon.
“According to objective monitoring data received in real time, the target was destroyed by a direct hit,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that long-range anti-submarine aircraft of the Northern Fleet’s mixed aviation corps were also involved in the exercise. It said Su-34 crews practised a bombing strike against ground targets.
Zircon Hypersonic Missile
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in 2019 that the Zircon can fly at nine times the speed of sound and hit targets at sea and on land at a range of more than 1,000 km (600 miles).
Russian media sources say the missile, known as the 3M22 Zircon in Russia and the SS-N-33 by NATO, has a range of 400 km to 1,000 km, and that its warhead mass is around 300 kg to 400 kg.
(With inputs from Reuters)
