Russia says Zircon hypersonic missile hit target in latest test

Russia said on Monday it had carried out another successful test launch of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, hailed by President Vladimir Putin as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems. The United States, China and North Korea are also involved in the contest to hypersonic missiles, the next generation of long-range weapons that are harder to detect and intercept.

Russia said on Monday it had carried out another successful test launch of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, hailed by President Vladimir Putin as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems. The missile was fired from the Admiral Gorshkov warship in the White Sea and hit a naval target more than 400 km (250 miles) away, the defence ministry said, in its second test in a fortnight.

A short video clip showed the missile illuminating the night sky with a burst of white light. The United States, China and North Korea are also involved in the contest to hypersonic missiles, the next generation of long-range weapons that are harder to detect and intercept. They travel at more than five times the speed of sound in the upper atmosphere, or around 6,200 km/hour (3,850 mph).

Putin announced an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.

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