February 2, 2025: In late 2024 Russia was able to finally install Zircon anti-ship missiles on one of its frigates, the Admiral Golovko. The Zircon missiles are nine meters long and 60 cm in diameter. They have a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers and can operate at altitudes up to 28 kilometers. Max speed is 3.1 kilometers a second or Mach 9. In addition to frigates, there is a submarine launched version of the missile. Russia is developing a land based version for Zircon, which provides shore defense capability. Zircon has capabilities that should be able to get past current American naval and land based air defense systems.

Zircon joins an earlier system, Avangard, which entered service in 2019. Avangard is carried aloft on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles or ICBMs and put into orbit where it relies on its momentum and ability to maneuver to find and hit a target. The one ton Avangard travels at speeds in excess of Mach 20 and, using that speed, the Avangard hits a target with the equivalent of 21 tons of explosives. This capability has long been used by all manner of high speed missiles lacking any explosives. As the old saying goes, Speed Kills.

Russia seeks to use the combination of Zircon missiles and Avangard hypersonic glide munitions to provide an unstoppable anti-ship capability. That’s the theory. Russia has not been seen testing this combination system at sea. This means the system is still theoretical and potentially impractical. And, like many Russian high-tech wonders, it might be unaffordable even if it is technically feasible.