State media say that a system designed to launch one of Russia’s renowned hypersonic missiles should be ready by the end of the year.
According to the Russian news source Tass, a system to launch the Tsirkon missile is being built by the famed rocket design company NPO Mashinostroyenia in Reutov, near Moscow.
The coastal missile system is expected to enter service with the Russian Navy “by the end of 2022,” according to a military source.
According to another source, the new system will be able to strike both terrestrial and sea-based targets. This would give it the same capability as the Bastion, which uses supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles called Oniks.
While there are aviation and sea-based variants of the Tsirkon, Anatoly Svintsov, deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroeniya, told the Zvezda military TV channel that his factory had been directed to “intensify work on the creation of a marine version of the rocket.”
The development of the missile system is being reported at a time when the Russian Navy is playing an increasingly important role in the Ukraine conflict.
Russia is alleged to have put Kalibr cruise missiles onto two Varshavyanka submarines in the Black Sea this week, just days after the US indicated it would strike the Russian fleet to free grain held in Ukrainian ports.
Before invading Ukraine, Putin boasted about the capabilities of his country’s hypersonic missiles, which are faster and more nimble than conventional missiles and are more difficult to intercept by defense systems.
Russia has announced it has test-launched the Tsirkon missile many times from its Northern Fleet flagship Admiral Gorshkov during the previous two and a half years. Moscow claims to be capable to hitting targets up to 660 kilometers afar.
The Tsirkon missile is at the low end of the hypersonic spectrum, traveling at Mach 9. Unlike pure hypersonic missiles that rely on scramjets, it is thought to be a hybrid cruise missile and ballistic missile, according to Newsweek. Experts have cautioned that it could overwhelm the Aegis Combat System of the United States.
Russia announced in March that it has utilized hypersonic missiles in the Ukraine conflict for the first time, hitting a military warehouse in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the country’s west using its newest Kinzhal weapon.
Moscow is increasing its rhetoric about its missile capabilities. Russia tested the nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat, also known as Satan II, last month, saying it would make opponents “think twice.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin-backed news networks have frequently threatened western countries that back Kyiv’s forces with missile strikes.
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