Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Northern Fleet's frigate Admiral Gorshkov conducted a successful test-launch of a Tsikon hypersonic missile. The exercise was reportedly part of a trial of new weapons, during which the missile struck a target 450 km away and achieved a speed in excess of Mach 4.

"The Project 22350 lead frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov carried out the next test-launch of a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from the White Sea against a complex target position in the Barents Sea," a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry stated, as reported by Tass.

In October, the same warship had test-fired the 3M22 Tsirkon hypersonic missile for the first time, and that occasion coincided with Russian Federal President Vladimir Putin's 68th birthday.

As with last week's exercise, the October missile was launched from the White Sea and struck a sea target in the Barents Sea. The missile reportedly flew at eight times the speed of sound and at an altitude of 28 km. Following that successful test, sources at the Defense Ministry had said that three missile test-launches of the advanced Tsirkon would be carried out by the end of the year, and last week's tests was apparently the first of those. Additionally, all three were to involve real strikes as sea or land targets, "including those imitating aircraft carriers or strategic facilities of a notional enemy."

The plans to develop the Tsirkon were announced by then-Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin in February 2011, while the first test flights of the hypersonic missile began in 2015. Since then, the 3M22 platform has received praise from President Putin, who said during his State-of-the-Nation Address to the Federal Assembly in February 2019 that work had been proceeding as scheduled.

The Tsirkon hypersonic missile is reportedly capable of developing a speed of about Mach 9, and has striking range capability that could exceed 1,000 km. It was designed to have a dual-purpose capability and is thus able to strike both naval and ground targets. Early Tsirkon tests were also conducted with the Tu-22M3 bomber, but during its subsequent development, the Russian military's first priority has been to test and deploy the hypersonic missile as a seaborne weapon platform.

During his annual address, Putin further specified that the plan was to deploy the Tsirkon on serial-produced surface ships and submarines, including the warships built or under construction for Kalibr cruise missiles. Russia has utilized the 3S-14 universal shipborne launcher for the launches of Tsirkon hypersonic weapons and Kalibr cruise missiles. Those launchers are currently operational on Russian Navy Project 22350 frigates and Project 20380 corvettes. The platform is also anticipated to be compatible with Russia's upcoming Lider-class submarine, which are reportedly slated to enter service by the mid-2020s.\

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

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