Russian forces test-fired an advanced nuclear-capable hypersonic cruise missile during navy and air force drills in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday.
Photographs released by the Russian defence ministry show a Zircon launching from the decks of the Admiral Gorshkov, a frigate commissioned in 2018 and designed to attack land, surface and underwater targets.
“On December 3, during an exercise to test the combined activities of Russian navy and air force troop groups, precision sea-based missiles were launched in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The Kremlin claims that the Zircon missile has a top speed of Mach 9 (6000m/h), which analysts have said would make it essentially invulnerable to even the best Western missile defence systems.
According to Russian state media, Putin has said the weapon has “no analogues in any country in the world”.