Russia successfully tests new hypersonic missile

Russia says it has successfully tested a new hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile in a move hailed by President Vladimir Putin as a “great event” for the country.

The military says that the Tsirkon missile was fired from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the White Sea on Tuesday morning in the Russian Arctic and successfully hit its target.

Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, tells Putin — who turned 68 on Wednesday — that it was the first time the missile had successfully struck a target at sea.

“The tasks of the launch were carried out. The test-fire was successful,” he tells Putin.

Gerasimov said that the missile hit its target 450 kilometers away in the Barents Sea and hit a Mach 8 speed — eight times the speed of sound.

Russia has in the last years touted the development of futuristic new weapons which it hopes will give it the edge in any arms race with the United States at a time of growing tensions with the West.

Putin says the test-firing of Tsirkon was a “great event not just in the life of our armed forces but for all of Russia.”

— AFP