The Russian fleet will be equipped “in the coming months” with a new hypersonic Zircon cruise missile that “knows no obstacles”. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this today in Saint Petersburg on the margins of a national holiday for the navy.
The cruise missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers. The Zircon is one of the newest weapons and has been tested several times in Russian waters. The first launch of a Zircon took place in October 2020. According to Putin, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov will be the first Russian ship equipped with these missiles. The locations where they will be deployed will be chosen on the basis of “Russia’s security interests”.
Putin attended a naval parade in St. Petersburg today that saw more than 40 ships and submarines and about 3,500 military personnel.
Position gain
The Russian president also made no secret of the fact that Moscow wants to strengthen its position in the Arctic, both economically and militarily. “The Arctic is in the process of transforming into a region with a lot of international competition, both from an economic and military standpoint,” reads a Navy doctrine signed by Putin.
The 55-page document also states that Russia wants to strengthen its “leading position in the exploration and conquest of the Arctic and ensure its strategic stability in the region.” Moscow wants to do this by, among other things, strengthening the military potential of the Russian fleet in the Arctic and in the Pacific.
Moscow further denounces “the United States’ desire to dominate world waters and the convergence of NATO’s military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders.”
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