Russia Orders Hypersonic Missiles As Putin Vows to Put Weapons on 'Combat Alert'

[Boats]

Russia Orders Hypersonic Missiles As Putin Vows to Put Weapons on 'Combat Alert'
By: James Crumpp - Newsweek News - 08-24-21
Re: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-defe...2512?piano_t=1

Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a deal with a contractor to deliver Tsirkon hypersonic missiles to Russian troops by 2025, as President Vladimir Putin has vowed to put the weapons on "combat alert."

"A government contract on the delivery of the 3M22 missile (the Tsirkon hypersonic missile) has been signed," the defense ministry said in a statement shared with Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday.

"The contract has been handed to CEO of the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building Alexander Leonov at the [Army-2021] international military-technical forum."

Speaking to TASS at the forum on Tuesday, Leonov confirmed that "the contract on Tsirkon missiles will be fulfilled by 2025. The missile has been standardized and can be used both from surface ships and submarines. The only difference is in the launcher used on surface ships or submarines."

The Russian state agency reported that Putin had earlier said that the missile would go on "combat alert" soon.

The multi-purpose missile, which is developed by the rocket design bureau NPO Mashinostroyenia, is claimed to have been designed to strike targets on land and sea from over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away and is capable of flying nine times the speed of sound.

In July, the defense ministry announced the successful launch from its Admiral Gorshkov warship of the missile, which it said traveled at seven times the speed of sound and was fired from the White Sea to hit its target more than 200 miles away on the Barents Sea.

"During the tests, the tactical and technical characteristics of the Zircon missile were confirmed," the defense ministry said as it posted a video from the launch to its social media channels.

Russia later said that it was hopeful that it could equip its submarines and surface ships with the Tsirkon missile system, and has reportedly scheduled tests of the weapon from a submarine carrier at the end of August.

Although initial reports suggested that the tests would occur in June, TASS reported in early August that the missile will be tested from the Northern Fleet's Yasen-class Severodvinsk nuclear-powered submarine by the end of this month.

"Flight design tests of the Tsirkon rocket from Severodvinsk will begin at the end of August. It is planned to complete several launches before the White Sea freezes over," a source told the agency.

The Tsirkon missile has been repeatedly touted by Putin as being part of a new generation of missile systems he claims are more advanced than any other country's weapons.

Russia previously tested a launch of the Tsirkon missile on Putin's birthday on October 7, 2020, with him describing it as a "great event not just in the life of our armed forces but for all of Russia."

Putin added he believed Russia's weapons are unequaled anywhere in the world and "will without doubt in the long term boost the defense capabilities of our state."

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Department of Defense for comment.

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Personal note: I bet both Russia and China are thinking & evaluating (in the background) about the issue's the US is going through in Afghanistan -
and all the disruptions that are going on.

Now might be a good time for an attack on the US. They may feel we are somewhat compromised and spread pretty thin - and in a quandary currently?
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These issues are always on the backfire of our enemies. Long drawn out conflicts take a long time - and in-turn a strike on the US
now - might and just catch us off guard - as we are spread pretty lean at this time. Both China and Russia - dislike the US - and have for many decades.
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As we have not heard much about those two countries in a month or so - it seems they are secondary to our ongoing operations.
They know we are spread pretty thing and backing away from these prolonged operations. Unless NATO is covering these issues
but I haven't heard anything lately about them and their current activities.
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The other issue is the virus that has yet to be contained and is once more spreading all over the US - which in turn will ground
operations to prevent further contamination of others.
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You couldn't ask for a sweeter setup and I'm sure China and Russia and maybe the Fat Man whose also been pretty quite of
late in NK - may want a piece of the action as well?
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OK what did we learn from Afghanistan? The same thing we did in Vietnam - Iraq and Iran I'd say.
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Are we getting into Nation Building operations? We fight to a stalemate in most cases of late and for what?
We can't change the ideology or find a universal religion. I too - wouldn't want to live on a sand-pile all my life.
I wouldn't want to live in a jungle either (much of what we call our large cities of late).

Mankind is! His own worst enemy. And it shows in all the wars and conflicts to date.
There's no universal concept that will work with all the ideologies on this planet.
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What's the fix? You tell me? Mankind is his own enemy - the savage caveman attitude of survival
of the fittest applies. In short we lack security and harmony. We are world of competition.
It's the Have's & the Have Not's! or the Dog Eat - Dog syndrome - in most cases.
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Hell we even arguing amongst ourselves in the US and it continues every day!
What is this scenario of operations mean to our worlds future - if we have one!
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Boats