3M22 Zircon Hypersonic Cruise Missile

ALAMO wrote:

magnumcromagnon wrote:

Mir wrote:Don't agree with that at all. Eyeball to eyeball is the best way to deal with these guys. You need a presence and missiles like the Tsirkons would not do it. You need ships and bombers.

Besides that, there are other strategic systems (other than Zircon) that could be deployed that could make a serious impact: Murmansk-BM, Paladin, Tirada-2, Kalibr-M/Kh-101, S-350/400/500/550, etc.

My friends, sometimes I have a feeling, that you really need a history lesson with extended context

No need for the condescending tone, Russia already has massive investments in both Venezuela (Russia managed to get controlling shares in their state hydrocarbon monopoly) as well as in Cuba (their joint off-shore rig has access to an estimated $900 billion in deep-sea oil reserves). Naturally it only makes sense to 'defend' investments that are immensely valuable, and bare minimum the costs of fuel resupply would be covered by those countries hydrocarbon fuel reserves.

limb wrote:What's the terminal guidance mechanism of the 3M22.

This is a very good question.
The Western view seems to be you need to do some kind of offboard updating to onboard inertial guidance eg via a satellite link.

But while US has enough radar/comms satellites to guarantee sufficient coverage, Russias coverage is (currently) incomplete and yet we have reports about US Intel being surprised by the observed high accuracy of Zirkon/Kinzhal, implying that Russia is using some other kind of guidance.

There are some highly sloped rectangles on the Kinzhal that seem to be some kind of antenna aperture but I haven't seen anything authoritative about what they are.

Zircon uses speed primarily as its main feature and it can only operate for long periods at such speeds at very high altitudes... ie the rocket powered Kh-32 operates at 40km altitude to fly above most air defence systems and a scramjet powered Zircon could probably operate at the same or higher altitudes because the cold thin air means less drag and less friction heating...

But flying at 40-50km altitude means your radar horizon would be enormous and your radar visibility would be enormous especially against 100K ton aircraft carriers which stand out spectacularly.

For defence of Russia they have about 1,000km inland around their entire border OTH backscatter radars with ranges of 5-6 thousand kilometres, which means 4-5 thousand kilometres beyond their coastline they have constant and continuous monitoring down to sea level... there will be gaps and patches due to atmospheric conditions, but they will move around so any attacking force approaching Russia will be detected in good time and some other platform can take a look to see if it is a problem or not.

They have a range of intel sources and something like an invasion or attack would be hard to keep quiet for long.

Aircraft carriers and carrier groups don't move very fast so if you launch a mach 9 Zircon missile at a target 1,000km away then you will generally know the location as well as speed and direction of the target at launch.... you know how long your missile will take to cover that distance and you can work out the area the target will be when your missile arrives. The altitude of the missile means even if it is 100km out... it is flying at 50km altitude so it could easily fly 100km either side of its position as it dived... not to mention it has been approaching the target for a few minutes and when it was 500km away it should be able to see where the carrier is and correct its flight path to get directly above it for a pitch up and climb for a vertical dive on the target at even higher speed performing some sort of corkscrew dive to avoid any up coming interceptors.

Very nice view of Zircon launch sequence Clearest view yet

Can't really make out anything on the missile body but looks like it stages in the cloud & the acceleration of the engine plume in the last few frames is something else

Edit: Bastion Karpenko got a good shot

Here is the full clip about Zircon as broadcasted today on Russian TV.

Ups

The Zircon surface-to-air hypersonic missile can fire at a range of up to 1,500 km.

The commander of the frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", Captain of the first rank Igor Krokhmal, said that the appearance of the hypersonic missile is one of the secret parameters.

MOSCOW, February 27. /tass/. The surface-launched hypersonic Zircon missile has a range of up to 1,500 km. About it in the report for the TV program "Vesti Nedeli" on the channel "Russia-1 " was announced by the commander of the frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", Captain of the first rank Igor Krokhmal.

"Shooting will be conducted at a distance of 1,000 to 1,500 km. If we take 1,000 km and divide it by the speed of Mach 9, we get a flight time of 580-620 seconds, " he said, anticipating the launch of the rocket.

The report did not specify when the shooting was carried out. The announced launch of the Zircon took place on February 19 during the exercise of the strategic deterrent forces.

As follows from the report, a naval target was hit at a range of up to a thousand kilometers. The launch was carried out from the Barents Sea.

He also said that the appearance of the Zircon hypersonic missile is one of the secret parameters. "It is under this cover of the universal launcher that the secret hypersonic Zircon is located. Even its appearance is still a top secret. Knowing the size of the launch shaft, you can only confidently judge the dimensions of the rocket. Its length is about 9 m, its diameter is 60 cm, " the commander said.

According to him, he himself saw the Zircon rocket only during the launch, when you can't see much in the clouds of smoke and fire, and the Zircon frigate is loaded in a closed container.

"The appearance of a hypersonic missile and its appearance is one of the protected parameters. That's why I never saw her. But you can't see it at the start. It is impossible at these speeds, " Krokhmal assured.

The Russian Defense Ministry has closed a large area of the Barents Sea to shipping for the duration of the exercise. "Let them watch, we don't mind, on the contrary, they will say in their information messages that yes, indeed, there are such weapons. Russia does not deceive us, does not lead us on a false trail. Let them watch, our exercises are open for this, " the commander stressed, referring to NATO observers monitoring the tests along the borders of the restricted area reserved for firing.

Currently, the state tests of the Zircon from a surface carrier are being completed. The developer and manufacturer of the missile is the Reutov NPO Mashinostroyeniya (part of the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation).

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/13889279

Lots of info here:

> Range confirmed up to 1500 km, this was before only hinted, and only once, for land targets.
> It seems 9 M is average flight speed, or at least that is how the captain is making the calculations
> 600 mm diameter may leave open the option that it can be eventually launched from heavy torpedo tubes on SSNs (971), that would mean a massive increase in the number of those critical submarine carriers. Far from sure, but it is a possibility.

Obviously all this is related to the escalation in international tensions, Tsirkon will allow Russia and China to prevent the West from using their navies to isolate them through acts of piracy and gunboat diplomacy. The gloves are off in earnest I think...

Brothers in arms, don't speak loudly, but TV Zvezda works;)

tvzvezda is banned from YouTube.
But you can watch the program on COMBAT APPROVED.
With English subtitles as a bonus.

Yes, TV Zvezda was banned earlier but Zvezda Live worked until this morning and it is also banned..
Terrible fascism, they are worse than Goebbels

Krepost wrote:tvzvezda is banned from YouTube.
But you can watch the program on COMBAT APPROVED.
With English subtitles as a bonus.

In this video, the commander of the Rocket and Artillery Combat Unit reports that the launches of the Zircon were initially carried out at "half of the required range" and now they are launching at a distance of "over a thousand kilometers".

Second episode just drop.

The zircon episodes seem to be rush up. They didn't waste a time to dubbed.
And English episodes is usually a year or two behind the Russian one aired on Zvezda.

Sending a message I guess.

NPO Mashinostroyeniya said that the Russian Federation has a reserve for the aviation version of the Zircon rocket

Anatoly Svintsov, Deputy General Director of the company, noted that the Zircon was initially developed in both marine and aviation versions.

MOSCOW, March 20. /tass/. NPO Mashinostroyeniya has a large backlog for the aviation version of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. This was announced by the Deputy General Director of the enterprise Anatoly Svintsov.

"According to the aviation version, we also have a big backlog. When the time comes, we will definitely continue this work, but for now the country already has a hypersonic aviation missile-this is the Kinzhal missile, " Svintsov said on the Military Acceptance program on the Zvezda TV channel.

The Deputy General Director added that the Zircon was initially developed in both marine and aviation versions. "The customer made a decision at the first stage to step up work on creating a marine version of the rocket," he explained.

https://tass.ru/ekonomika/14126451

"Subtle" messages keep coming

Sources in the Ministry of Defense reported that Russia is creating a new coastal complex for the Zircon rocket

Development is conducted by NPO Mashinostroeniya

MOSCOW, May 27. /tass/. Russia is developing a new coastal missile system (DBK) for the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. This was reported to TASS by two sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry.

"The Reutov NPO Mashinostroyeniya is developing a new coastal missile system for the Zircon hypersonic missile. It is assumed that it can enter service with the Navy before the end of 2022, " one of them said.

According to another source of the agency, the new complex with the Zircon missile, like its predecessor DBK Bastion with Onyx (Yakhont) missiles, will have the ability to hit both surface and ground targets.

In NPO Mashinostroyeniya (part of the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation) they did not comment on this information to TASS.

Earlier, Anatoly Svintsov, Deputy General Director of NPO Mashinostroeniya, saidthat the company has a large reserve for the aviation version of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. On the air of the program "Military acceptance" on the TV channel "Zvezda" he noted that " when the time comes, we will definitely continue this work, but for now the country already has a hypersonic aviation missile-this is the Kinzhal missile. He added that the Zircon was initially developed in both marine and aviation versions, and "the customer decided at the first stage to step up work on creating a marine version of the rocket."

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/14745167

TASS; May 31, 02:02

Source: state tests in the Russian Federation of the Zircon hypersonic missile from a surface carrier are completed

The missile was launched at the maximum range, the TASS interlocutor noted.

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. The test launch in the Russian Federation of the newest Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, carried out on May 28, was carried out at the maximum range, this work completed the state tests of the product from a surface carrier. This was reported to TASS by a source in the military-industrial complex.

"The launch of Zircon to the maximum range has successfully completed the cycle of state tests of the missile from a surface carrier," he said.

TASS has no official information on this matter.

On May 28, the military department reported that the Project 22350 frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" fired a Zircon missile from the Barents Sea at a sea target in the White Sea at a range of about 1,000 km. According to objective control data, the missile successfully hit the sea target, the flight corresponded to the specified parameters.

Earlier, a TASS source reported that the Reutov (regional city of Reutov - Moscow region) Mechanical Engineering NPO (part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation), which developed and manufactures the missile, is developing the latest coastal missile system under the hypersonic Zircon.

On December 24, 2021, President Vladimir Putin announced the Zircon salvo launch. The tests, he said, were "successful, flawless." The exact performance characteristics of the Zircon are secret. On February 20, 2019, Putin, in his message to the Federal Assembly, stated that the missile from the Zircon complex is capable of reaching speeds equal to 9 Mach numbers (speeds of sound), has a range of more than 1 thousand km. On August 24, 2021, at the Army-2021 military-technical forum, a contract was signed for the supply of Zircons to the Russian Defense Ministry.

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/14774757