What is a Zircon rocket?
The 3M22 Zircon missile is a Russian hypersonic anti-ship missile, created to replace the P-700 heavy anti-ship missile, developed in the 70-80s of the last century.
Little is known about the technical characteristics of the Zircon, but from what the Russians themselves stated, the following is known:
- strike range – 600-1000 km;
- flight speed – up to 9 mach;
- warhead mass – 300-400 kg;
- length – 8-10 meters;
- the engine is two-stage (the first stage is solid fuel, the second is air-jet).
The missile can be launched both from ships and from the Bastion ground complex. The possibility of launching Zircon from the Object-100 underground coastal missile system in Crimea cannot be ruled out.
Another Russian “wunderwaffe”
Putin presented the Zircon in 2019 as the latest Russian development, but, as Konstantin Krivolap told RBC-Ukraine, then the Russian dictator showed a “completely copied” American prototype of the X-51 missile.
“When Putin presented it in 2019, it showed the American X-51 hypersonic missile, or rather its prototype. The Americans started this program somewhere in 2005. The Russians started it later, but set ambitious goals – a speed of Mach 10, etc. “, – he said.
Photo: American prototype of the X-51 missile (defense.gov)
In addition to the speed, which is even greater than that stated in the American prototype, the Russians endowed their Zircon with an allegedly “high-precision homing head.” However, according to Krivolap, the veracity of this is questionable, since all anti-ship missiles have the same guidance mechanism.
“You cannot lock into the terrain, you may have GPS suppression, the missile flies along a ballistic trajectory, and when it approaches the target, the optical guidance head turns on, which compares the image from different angles. This guidance system is very complex, because there must be very high computing capabilities of the complex itself on the rocket in order to compare images from different angles and different heights,” the expert noted.
As Krivolap explained, during flight at hypersonic speed a plasma cloud forms around the missile, which makes it impossible to transmit radio signals, which makes it difficult both to detect this missile using radar and to point the missile itself at the target.
Questions, according to Krivolap, also arise regarding the declared Zircon air-breathing engine. The fact is that the development of such an engine has been carried out by different countries, including the Soviet Union, since the second half of the last century, but since then no one has made significant progress.
“Since then, we have not made significant progress; there are a lot of factors that do not give stable results in starting the engine and its operation. Both the Americans and other countries working in this direction have faced this problem,” the expert said.
In general, “Zircon” is another Russian “wunderwaffe”, that is, a “miracle weapon” whose real capabilities do not meet the stated characteristics. It is significant that on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin announced “mass production” of these missiles for the Russian army, but, as Krivolap noted, as of May last year, it had not begun. It is worth noting that the American X-51 missiles, from which the Zircon was copied, were manufactured, according to open data, only four.
It is worth noting that even Russian Wikipedia writes about the possibility of shooting down a Zircon with modern Western air defense systems, such as THAAD, Hets-2 and Hets-3, SM-3, SM-6, GBI, PAAMS and SAMP/T (with an Aster missile thirty). The Russians admitted that these air defenses can intercept targets flying at high speeds, but supposedly, given the maneuverability of the Zircon, the likelihood of this is not high.
Was Zircon launched in Kyiv?
After the morning shelling of Ukraine, the Defense Express portal published a publication that a Russian Zircon was probably shot down over Kiev. However, the Air Force reported intercepting only three Caliber missiles and 26 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles.
The possible use of Zircon is evidenced by photographs of debris at the crash site of one of the downed missiles. The marking 3M22, corresponding to the code name “Zircon”, is visible on the fragment.
Defense Express clarified that the debris found today matches the debris of another unidentified missile used by the Russian Federation at the beginning of the year. As for the other unidentified missile, there was speculation that it could be the Zircon.
Photo: wreckage of an unidentified missile shot down over Kiev (Defense Express)
It should also be recalled that on December 29, the Zaporozhye OVA also announced a strike with a Zircon missile. At that time, the Air Force did not confirm that it was these missiles that the enemy used, but in a conversation with RBC-Ukraine, the Zaporozhye Air Force said that, according to their available data, it was precisely the Zircon missile.
According to Krivolap, it is difficult to say whether the Russians actually attacked Kyiv with a Zircon missile, but the size of the missile crater and reports of ballistics flying from the south towards the capital indicate that this possibility cannot be discarded.
However, as Krivolap emphasized, if the Zircon were to move at the speed stated in the technical specifications, then even modern radars would hardly have detected it. The question remains as to where exactly the rocket was launched from, since the carrier of the Zircon, the ship Admiral Gorshkov, is not in the Black Sea.
“I would treat this message very carefully. There is one such detail here that carriers that could launch, for example, the Kinzhal, were not recorded. But there is a nuance, six Tu-22M3 took off there, but they launched only four missiles “X-22. They may have attached this missile to this aircraft. Theoretically, they could launch it from the ground. Perhaps from Bastion or Object 100,” he added.
In addition, it is unclear how many Zircons were actually manufactured in Russia, because as of last May their production had not started.
“Maybe they had 4-5-10 of these Zircons, which they made for test launches. At this stage, this is fortune telling,” Krivolap concluded.
Massive shelling of Ukraine on February 7
This morning the occupiers fired missiles at Ukraine from strategic aviation. Our air defense shot down a total of 44 enemy targets, including 15 drones that the Ukrainian military had been “hunting” since the evening.
The missile attack was aimed mainly at Kyiv, although Nikolaev and the Lviv region also came under fire. In the Goloseevsky district of Kyiv, a high-rise building was on fire, and power grids on the left bank were damaged. In total, more than 40 people were injured from the morning attack on Kyiv, and four were killed.
Read more about the consequences of a massive attack in the RBC-Ukraine article.
Read urgent and important messages about Russia’s war against Ukraine on the channel RBC-Ukraine on Telegram.
2024-02-07 21:30:19
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