According to RIA Novosti a Russian state-operated domestic news agency, the Russian Navy's top
officer has acknowledged the country's hypersonic Zircon cruise missile is suffering 'childhood
diseases’, meaning it has several issues that need to be fixed before it can be deployed
in combat.
Admiral Nikolai Evmenov stated these issues would take at least a few years to resolve
before the 3M22 Zircon becomes operational.
He didn’t reveal the nature of the issues.
Viewers may note that the first sea trials of Zircon are yet to take place despite it
being scheduled for the end of 2019.
The Russian military has seen delays in deploying several important assets which include Sukhoi
Su 57 fighter as well as T 14 Armata Tank (wrongly pronounced adsT 34) and this is not surprising.
Zircon is a crucial weapon for Russia and its delay is a significant blow.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes the Russian Navy's top officer’s admission that
hypersonic Zircon cruise missile will not be ready any time soon.
Let’s get started.
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An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed speeds of Mach 5 that is 5 times the
speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 m/sec or 3,836 mph or 6,174 km/h.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons.
The first is through the use of Air-Launched Ballistic missile (ALBM).
As the name suggests, this kind of missile is ballistic in nature but is launched from
air, unlike traditional ballistic missiles which are launched from land or sea-based
platforms.
The second is using Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV).
In this method, the system is launched to extremely high altitudes using Ballistic Missile
or an aircraft where it reaches the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The vehicle then separates from the carrier and glides back to the earth towards its intended
target attaining hypersonic speed.
The third is using a Scramjet engine.
The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet.
A Ramjet engine can power a flight to supersonic speeds but the scramjet can enable the missiles
to reach hypersonic speeds.
In this method, a rocket booster is used to accelerate the missile to hypersonic speed,
then the scramjet engine kicks in and enables the missile to fly at sustained hypersonic
speed.
Zircon is based on this method.
There is something to be noted here.
Traditional ballistic missiles like American Minuteman III, Russian Satan or Indian Agni
ballistic missiles all travel at hypersonic speeds in their terminal phase but are not
considered to be true hypersonic weapons.
The reason is that they follow a predictable ballistic trajectory and can’t maneuver
mid-course.
The U.S has a military budget that is around 10 times that of Russia.
American Navy is the largest in the world.
US Navy alone operates around 10 nuclear-powered supercarriers which are more than all the
other nations combined whereas Russia's only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is non-operational
due to a recent accident.
Vierwers can check the video on the above card to know more.
US Navy also has 65 Arleigh Burke class Destroyers & 22 Ticonderoga class Cruisers that are in
active service.
So, it’s not possible for Russia to match the US Navy platform to platform and it needs
something that provides them Asymmetric capability to counter the U.S Navy.
The main defensive weapon of U.S surface ships are as follows:
1.
Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) is the primary air defense system.
It has a range of 10 nmi or 19 km and speed of Mach 3.5 Arleigh Burke class has 96 cell
Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) whereas Ticonderoga class 122 of these.
Each can be quad packed with ESSM.
2.
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air
missile meant for point defense.
It has a speed in excess of Mach 2 and has a range of 9 km or 5.6 mi.
3.
Phalanx Close-in Weapon System is deployed for last-ditch defense against airborne threats.
It uses an automated 20 mm Gatling gun which is capable of firing up to 50 rounds per second.
These defensive could potentially be saturated by a barrage of supersonic anti-ship missiles
and against hypersonic missiles, they are almost ineffective.
U.S Navy’s surface fleet also has warships that incorporate the Aegis Combat System.
The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is designed by the United States Department
of Defense, Missile Defense Agency to protect against short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
It enables the warships to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles by expanding the Aegis
Combat System with the addition of the AN/SPY-1 radar and Standard missiles like SM-2 or SM-3 missile.
But this system is not designed to defend against maneuvering cruise missiles and this
is where Zircon comes in.
As per President Putin’s address in the Russian Federal Assembly last year, the Zircon
is capable of reaching speeds of Mach 9.
So it is much faster than a bullet fired from a sniper rifle, actually almost 3 times the
speed of a sniper’s bullet.
The kinetic energy alone will rip a ship apart like a tin can.
Mr. Putin stated that the missile has a range of over 1000 km or 620 miles.
The missile weighs 5 tons.
President Putin mentioned that the missile can destroy both sea-going and land targets.
As per reports, the Zircon will have both radar target seeker and an optical-electronic
complex to detect and track targets.
The missile could be equipped with a High explosive warhead or even a tactical nuclear
warhead.
Mr. Putin had told the Zircon is mainly intended to be deployed in seagoing platforms such
as “serially made surface warships and submarines, including those that are already operational
and being built”.
The most important aspect of Zircon is its speed.
The speed would give air defenses very little time to detect & fire interceptors.
It is to be noted that America’s Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has stated
that the U.S currently lacks the defenses required to protect against the latest crop
of hypersonic weapons being developed by China and Russia.
The report states, “China and Russia are pursuing hypersonic
weapons because their speed, altitude, and maneuverability may defeat most missile defense
systems, and they may be used to improve long-range conventional and nuclear strike capabilities.
There are no existing countermeasures.”
In its response to the GAO, the Department of Defense described the report as “an accurate
although sobering macro picture of how the US stands in the world against emerging threats.”
So, if Zircon is deployed successfully and it works as it sated by Russia, it will be
a challenge.
But this is hardly the case with Russia and revelation of Admiral Nikolai Evmenov confirms it.
On May 15, 2019, Mr. Putin revealed that a procurement plan is being laid out for acquiring
76 Su-57 for the Russian Air Force and it is expected that these will be deployed by
2028.
This is a major delay as the Kremlin previously planned to have 150 of these aircraft in service
by 2020.
Similarly, the Russian government had decided to curtail production new T-14 Armata tank
and had instead preferred upgrading its existing T 90 tanks
It remains to be seen how the deployment of Zircon pans out in the future.