Traveling nine times faster than the speed of sound, Zircon can hit targets up to 1,000 kilometers away
All new Russian navy frigate and corvette class vessels will be equipped with hypersonic Zircon missiles, Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov announced on Thursday. He did not, however, reveal the exact number of warships the navy expected to receive the weaponry.
“All the ships of the frigate class that are under construction or are being laid down will be armed with ‘Zircons’,” he told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the International Maritime Defense Show (IMDS) in Russia’s Kronstadt. “Corvettes [will get them] too,” he added.
The Zircon missiles were brought into service early this year. The projectiles are said to be much faster than any previously developed Russian anti-ship missiles and those used by NATO nations.
Back in 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in his annual address to parliament that Zircon missiles would be able to hit targets at a range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) while flying nine times faster than the speed of sound. That is supposedly more than nine times as fast as the Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles used by the US Navy, which are both subsonic.
Zircon can be used against any surface vessels, ranging from a frigate to an aircraft carrier, as well as against any land targets. The decision does not mean that Russia plans to abandon its Kalibr and Onyx cruise missiles, which are also actively used by the navy, Yevmenov said. Both missiles have previously demonstrated “high reliability,” he added......More Below
https://www.rt.com/russia/578487-new-frigates-corvettes-hypersonic-missiles/
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
