The Russian Navy might receive the Zirkon hypersonic anti-ship missile during the Kremlin’s state armament program (GPV) for 2018-2027. If the new weapon materializes, Russian Navy’s Project 20385 and 20386 corvettes and Project 23350 and 23350M frigates would be among the first to receive the new missiles according to a report from the Russian TASS news agency.
Michael Kofman, a research scientist specializing in Russian military affairs at the Center for Naval Analyses, said that the Zirkon is currently in testing, and funding will likely be allocated to the missile in the state armament plan.
“Tsirkon [7] is one of the prospective hypersonic missiles currently in development and testing,” Kofman said. “The Russian navy intends to upgrade existing launch systems, such as 3S14 VLS [vertical launch system], to use it, which now fires P-800 [8] and Kalibr-NK. Undoubtedly funding will be allocated for this project in the first five years of the upcoming state armament program.”
One of the reasons that Russia is developing the Zircon is because the Kremlin knows that it will eventually need a next-generation weapon. “Although Oniks and Kalibr are already capable anti-ship missiles, much of this tech is from late 1980s designs,” Kofman said. “Russia is now investing in the next generation, hence the strong push towards hypersonic weapons.”
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Source: TASS http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4823798