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One of the Russian warships docked in Cuba could carry Putin’s prized hypersonic missiles.
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The Russian leadership has touted the Zircon as a fast, highly maneuverable and undefeatable weapon.
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The missile’s actual capabilities are questionable, but Russia’s hypersonic missiles are a concern.
A Russian warship docked off the coast of Cuba could be carrying advanced strike capabilities, particularly new hypersonic missiles.
The Zircon scramjet-powered hypersonic cruise missiles, relatively new weapons in Moscow’s arsenal, have been touted by the Kremlin as unbeatable and unmatched by any other system, although questions remain about their actual capabilities.
The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov arrived in Cuba on Wednesday ahead of a Caribbean air and maritime exercise after conducting exercises in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this week. The ship – along with two other ships and a stealthy, nuclear-powered submarine that is of particular concern to the US and NATO – will remain in Cuba for a five-day official visit.
The visit and training are fairly routine for Russia and Cuba. U.S. officials have noted that they are monitoring the situation and do not expect any threats.
But the arrival of the Admiral Gorshkov, a first-class ship commissioned in 2018 and the first ship to carry the Zircon, and the Kasan make the visit notable nonetheless. It is currently unclear whether the frigate is carrying the missiles, as it also carries Kalibr cruise missiles.
The Zircon, also spelled Tsirkon, was first tested on the Admiral Goshkov in October 2020. At the time, the Russian Defense Ministry said it flew at a speed of Mach 8 before hitting a target nearly 300 miles away. Subsequent tests have also taken place and last year the ship sailed into the Atlantic Ocean with the weapons on board.
The new weapon can be used against targets on land and at sea.
Hypersonic missiles are fast, highly maneuverable, and fly unpredictable flight paths and patterns that can make interception extremely difficult. The missiles fly low and can change direction in an instant, and their direction and altitude make them harder to track and kill than, say, a ballistic missile on a parabolic flight path.
But while Putin has touted the Zircon’s capabilities as unbeatable, unparalleled and unlike any other weapon in the arsenals of the world’s armed forces, it remains to be seen whether it can actually live up to these grand claims. Other Russian weapons have not done that.
Experts have said that while the missile should not be underestimated, its ability to travel at blinding speeds and hit moving targets, as Putin has claimed, may not be entirely true.
Together with Russia, China has also developed a hypersonic missile called the DF-ZF, which it claims can travel five times the speed of sound and hit targets up to 5,400 kilometers away.
The US is working on its own hypersonic missiles, but there are notable concerns that the development and deployment of these weapons continues to lag behind US rivals. The US is also working with Japan on new air defense systems that can intercept hypersonics.
Read the original article on Business Insider
