Militaries across the world are scrambling to field hypersonic cruise missiles, as their extreme speed and manoeuvrability make them difficult to intercept.
Experts believe that surface ships, particularly aircraft carriers, could be extremely vulnerable to hypersonic cruise missiles.
It is understood that Russia fired the Zirkon missile, which has a range of about 965km, at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in February of this year.
The naval drills come as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s biggest ally in the region, is facing the greatest challenge to his rule in years after rebel fighters captured the city of Aleppo in a shock offensive that began last week.
Russia has had a significant military presence in Syria for a decade, including a naval base near the Mediterranean port city of Tartus.
Naval analyst HI Sutton said that Russia’s Tartus naval base was now under threat from rebel attack as the fast-moving front line closed in.
“The dramatic shift in the front lines in Syria now puts the base at risk. There are indications that Russia may be evacuating its naval vessels,” he said.
The Tartus base is important for Russia because it is its navy’s only Mediterranean “replenishment and repair point”. It has also been used as the dropping-off point for Russian special forces to enter the Syrian conflict.
Russia’s defence ministry said 10 ships and 24 planes had taken part in Tuesday’s drills, adding that its forces had also fired Onyx and Kalibr cruise missiles.
The two weapons are older than the Zircon missile but can be fitted with nuclear warheads and travel at speeds of Mach 2.9 and Mach 3 respectively.
