Russia is to build a stockpile of “Zircon” hypersonic missiles in Crimea. In just a few minutes they could reach all major Ukrainian cities.
Crimea – On February 7, 2024, Russia fired a “Zircon” cruise missile for the first time in the Ukraine war, according to the Kiev Research Institute for Forensic Investigations. A little later, on March 25, a second such hypersonic missile is said to have been intercepted over Kiev. Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said
that Russia was stockpiling "several dozen such missiles in military hubs such as Crimea," according to Ukrainian news agency
UNITED24 Media
. They would be used for “sporadic terrorist attacks,” including attacks on the capital Kiev.
UNITED24 Media
posted a map on When he confirmed the attack on February 7th, he claimed that his new weapon could fly up to nine times the speed of sound, i.e. around 11,100 km/h. It also carries a warhead weighing 300 to 400 kg over 600 to 1,500 km. However
, expert Sidharth Kaushal from
the Royal United Services Institute
(
RUSI
) considers this to be “highly questionable”.
Hypersonic missile “Zircon”: anti-ship weapon stationed in Crimea
It is entirely plausible to station the Zircon in Crimea and not on domestic military bases in Russia, because it is a ship-based weapon. The largest city on the peninsula, Sevastopol, is the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and has therefore already been attacked by Ukraine with its own cruise missiles.
The hypersonic missiles of the “Zircon” type are intended, among other things, for use on frigates of the Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Grigorovich classes and are also expected to be part of the armament of nuclear submarines of the Yasen class. First of all, they are anti-ship missiles and, according to
RUSI
expert Sidharth Kaushal, in this role they would also be a challenge for “high-quality Western naval platforms”.
The “Zircon” rockets are probably not as unfireable as claimed
However, in all likelihood they will not be used against such combat ships in the Ukrainian war, because Ukraine has practically no navy. Instead, Russia will direct its “Zircon” cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities, as was shown on February 7th and probably also on March 25th. One of the differences from the “Kinshal” supersonic missiles, which are otherwise used in a similar way, is that they are launched from the air by fighter aircraft and not from sea.
Designation |
Hypersonic anti-ship missile 3M22 “Zirkon” |
developer |
NPO Mashinostroyeniya |
Estimated length |
8-10m |
Declared range |
600-1500km |
Declared maximum speed |
Mach 9 (about 11100 km/h) |
Declared weight of the warhead |
300-400kg |
What the two hypersonic weapons have in common is that their Russian developers say they are supposedly unfireable because of their speed. While this claim has already been sufficiently put into perspective in the case of the “Kinshal” missiles, something similar seems to be emerging for their “Zircon” sisters. The first “Zircon” appears to have hit Kiev on February 7th, with Ukraine claiming to have fired the two projectiles from March 25th.
If the “Zirkon” has to brake, the “Patriot” air defense system has its chance
According to Sidharth Kaushal, the new weapon could have two crucial weaknesses. On the one hand, it has to complete the majority of its flight at a very high altitude, around 20 km above the ground. This makes them vulnerable to being detected by radar systems earlier than low-flying projectiles. To prevent this, it might be able to fly lower in the final phase of its approach, but then it would also have to reduce its speed significantly to around Mach 5.
This reduction in speed could be the reason why the “Zircon” missiles can be launched at all. The
Kyiv Post
reported that on March 25, a Patriot system picked up the hypersonic missiles from the skies over Kiev. Actually, the Patriot air defense missiles can fly at a maximum of Mach 5. If the “Zircon” actually had to brake before it hit, that would be extremely beneficial for Ukraine.