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/
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia.
Russia would have the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on ...
