Major scam of Russian MoD: Media uncover real characteristics of Zircon missile
The media learned the true characteristics of Zircon (Photo: Russian media)
The combat part of the anti-ship hypersonic missile ZM22 Zircon has become the biggest scam of the Russian Ministry of Defense and its developer, the Tactical Missile Corporation JSC, reports Defense Express.
According to the analysis conducted, the combat part of the Zircon missile comprises approximately 100-150 kilograms, with the explosive substance accounting for up to 40 kilograms. The missile has a fragmentation-explosive design, an unconventional shape, and a small weight. The combat power of the missile is lower compared to other missiles:
- Kh-47 Kinzhal - 500 kilograms of combat part;
- Cruise missiles Kh-101, Kh-555, Kalibr - 400 kilograms of combat part;
- Onix - 300 kilograms of combat part.
The closest counterpart to Zircon is Kh-31 with 150 kg and Kh-35 with 135 kilograms of explosive substance. However, the combat part directly affects which type of ship the missile is capable of sinking.
"With this much explosive, Zircon should be guaranteed to eliminate only battleships of 4,000 to 4,500 tons of water displacement, i.e. belonging to the class corvette. For reference, a typical aircraft carrier has a displacement reaching 100,000 tons," the material adds.
Why Zircon has such a small combat part
The missile was equipped with such a small combat part to ensure the fulfillment of the tactical and technical task - a range of 1000 kilometers. If the missile is unable to reach such a distance, the simplest way to fix this is to reduce its combat part. This explains why the flight range of Zircon gradually increased from 400 kilometers to the claimed 1000 kilometers by dictator Vladimir Putin.
According to the material, that's why the Tactical Missile Corporation reduced the weight of the combat part to the minimum possible, thanks to which it achieved the task of range. And despite the fact that this will not help in destroying designated targets at all,
"Nonetheless, the Ministry of Defense of russia accepted the weapon on January 4th, 2023. The defense order was soon to follow, as well as money, bonuses, awards, promotions, etc.," the news agency writes.
Additionally, besides such an "explanation, the Kremlin could have officially declared that the main use of Zircon is considered with a special nuclear warhead, the weight of which is about 150 kilograms.
Attacks with Zircon against Ukraine
Recently, the media reported that the Russian Federation, during the attack on Ukraine on February 7, may have used the ZM22 Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile. The enemy used the same missile again on March 25. At that time, experts were able to collect more fragments and study the missile better.
As a spokesperson of the Air Force Illia Yevlash reported, to shoot down the aforementioned missile, Ukraine uses anti-ballistic missile systems such as SAMP/T or Patriot.
For more information on what is known about the Zircon missile and whether Russians could have attacked Kyiv with it, read the material by RBC-Ukraine.
