On February 20th, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially revealed the Zircon hypersonic
cruise missile.
It has been in development since 2011.
This comes at a time when tensions between the U.S & Russia has increased many folds
due to the U.S decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty blaming Russia for non-compliance.
Please refer to the video on the above card to know the details of the INF Treaty or Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Russia One TV channel has now listed possible U.S assets that could be targeted by Zircon.
In this video Defense Updates, analyzes why Zircon hypersonic cruise missile could be
unstoppable?
Let's get into the details.
As per President Putin’s address in the Russian Federal Assembly, 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 (620 miles).
It is interesting to note that the speed, as well as the range, is significantly higher
than the earlier reports which stated these to be Mach 6 & 500 km respectively.
It is equipped with a scramjet engine type, which compresses air before it enters the
combustion chamber.
The scramjet is an innovation on the ramjet, in which the combustion chamber is specially
designed to operate with supersonic airflow.
Ramjet engine powers the Indo-Russian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile that can travel
at speeds of 2.8 to 3 Mach.
Scramjet is simply an acronym for 'supersonic combustion' ramjet.
The missile weights 5 tons.
President Putin mentioned that the missile is able to 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.
According to Mr. Putin, 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”.
Admiral Nakhimov, the nuclear-powered Kirov class Project 1144 battlecruiser & its sister
ship Pyotr Veliky will be the first warships to have this missile.
As for submarines, Russia’s existing fleet of conventional and nuclear submarines like
the Project 855M Yasen-class, and the upcoming Husky-class submarines will have the missile
integrated.
It is to be noted that there are many reports in Russian media that indicate that a lighter
air launch variant is also under development.
This variant could be deployed with Tu-160M2 Blackjack and will complement the Kinzhal
hypersonic missile intended for deployment in the MiG-31B heavyweight multirole fighters.
The combination of these multiple launch platforms with hypersonic cruise missiles makes it a
versatile weapon.
According to the Russian state-run Russia One TV channel, Zircon will be used against
these targets in case of war:
1. The Pentagon -The headquarters of the United States Department of Defense
2. Camp David, officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont – the country
retreat for the President of the US
3. Fort Ritchie, Maryland – alternate high command post for the US President and a command
center of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
4. McClellan Air Force Base, California – Headquarters of the strategic offensive forces
Viewers may note that these targets are all high-value targets and are being listed since
hitting them could impede America’s decision making & ability to respond.
The most important aspect of Zircon is its speed.
The speed would give air defenses very little time to detect & fire interceptors.
Current air defense systems can defend against subsonic missiles reliably and are effective
against supersonic missile to an event, but against hypersonic missiles, they will fail.
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.”
Viewers can go through the report from the link given in the ‘Description’ section
below.
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.”
Another important aspect of the missile is its plasma cloud.
As per multiple reports, the missile is completely covered by a plasma cloud during the flight.
The plasma cloud would absorb radio frequencies emitted from radars and since the waves are
not reflected back, it will essentially mean that the missile will be invisible.
It is highly likely that the missile will be detected very late and this will make intercepting
Zircon even more difficult.