The Russian Navy’s latest warship, Gremyashchiy,
will carry the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles. According to Russian state media, the warship’s
captain and Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this during Putin’s visit aboard
the vessel on October 31. Putin reportedly said, “the Zircons will
certainly be there.” The warship will be launched later this year
and is expected to join the Pacific fleet. The missile a counter to the U.S. Navy’s
air defense system. In this video Defense Updates why the deployment
of Zircon hypersonic missile-armed Gremyashchiy warship is a genuine threat for the U.S military? Let’s get into the details. This video is sponsored by War Thunder. If you are, like us, fascinated by military
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20 million players from all over the world! An object is said to be hypersonic once they
exceed speeds of Mach 5 or 5 times the speed of sound. This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836
mph or 6,174 kph. There are currently two methods being applied
to make hypersonic weapons. The first is using Hypersonic Glide Vehicle
(HGV). In this method, the system is launched to
extremely high altitudes using Ballistic Missile or an aircraft where it skips across the Earth’s
upper atmosphere. The vehicle then separates from the carrier
and glides back to the earth towards its intended target attaining hypersonic speed. The second is by using a Scramjet engine. The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet. Ramjet engine can power flight to supersonic
speeds but scramjet can enable the missile to reach hypersonic speeds. These engines have no moving parts, like the
compressors and turbines used in the turbofan engines found on conventional jet planes. They rely on the huge pressures created by
fast airflow into the engine to ignite the fuel and generate thrust. Zircon uses this method. It must be noted that traditional ballistic
like American Minuteman III, Russian Sarmat or Indian Agni missile all travel at hypersonic
speeds, but they follow a predictable ballistic trajectory and can’t maneuver mid-course. The main defensive weapon consists of the
following: 1. Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) is the
primary air defense system. It has a range of 10 nmi or 19 km and speed
of Mach 3.5 Arleigh Burke class has 96 cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) whereas
Ticonderoga class 122 of these. Each can be quad packed with ESSM. 2. RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles is a small,
lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile meant for point defense. It has a speed in excess of Mach 2 and has
a range of 9 km or 5.6 mi. 3. Phalanx Close-in Weapon System is deployed
for last-ditch defense against airborne threats. It uses an automated 20 mm Gatling gun which
is capable of firing up to 50 rounds per second. They could potentially be saturated by a barrage
of supersonic anti-ship and against hypersonic missiles, they are almost ineffective. U.S Navy’s surface fleet also has warships
that incorporate the Aegis Combat System. The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
is designed by the United States Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency to protect
against short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It enables the warships to shoot down enemy
ballistic missiles by expanding the Aegis Combat System with the addition of the AN/SPY-1
radar and Standard missiles like SM-2 or SM-3 missile. But this system is not designed to defend
against maneuvering cruise missiles. As per President Putin’s address in the
Russian Federal Assembly, the Zircon is capable of reaching speeds of Mach 9. So it is much faster than a bullet fired from
a sniper rifle, actually almost 3 times the speed of a sniper’s bullet. The kinetic energy alone will rip a ship apart
like a tin can. Mr. Putin stated that the missile has a range
of over 1000 km or 620 miles. The missile weighs 5 tons. President Putin mentioned that the missile
can destroy both sea-going and land targets. As per reports, the Zircon will have both
radar target seeker and an optical-electronic complex to detect and track targets. The missile could be equipped with a High
explosive warhead or even a tactical nuclear warhead. Mr. Putin had told the Zircon is mainly intended
to be deployed in seagoing platforms such as “serially made surface warships and submarines,
including those that are already operational and being built”. Gremyashchiy is the lead ship of the Gremyashchiy
class. The Gremyashchiy class meaning ‘Thunderous’
is an advanced development of the Steregushchiy-class corvettes of the Russian Navy. This follow-on project was designed by the
Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau in Saint Petersburg. Ships of this class have a displacement of
2,500 tons The warship has a speed of 27 knots (50 km/h;
31 mph) and range of around 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) The ship is armed with two 30mm AK-630M close-in
weapons systems for defense against enemy aircraft For long range air defense, a 16-cell launcher
is present that can fire 9K96 surface-to-air missiles. 2 × 4 330 mm torpedo tubes are present for
Paket-NK anti-torpedo/anti-submarine torpedoes A 100mm А190-01 lightweight multi-purpose
naval artillery gun is mounted in the bow to engage enemy surface ships, coastal and
air targets from close range. 2 × 14.5 mm MTPU pedestal machine guns are
also present. Till this revelation, Gremyashchiy Class was
expected to carry 8 Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles which is similar in capability to
American Tomahawk missile. It is subsonic and has a range of 1,500 miles
or 2400 km. But with this announcement, it is clear that
Zircon will also be deployed depending on the mission The most important aspect of Zircon is its
speed. The speed would give air defenses very little
time to detect & fire interceptors. It is to be noted that America’s Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report has stated that the U.S currently lacks the defenses
required to protect against the latest crop of hypersonic weapons being developed by China
and Russia. The report states,
“China and Russia are pursuing hypersonic weapons because their speed, altitude, and
maneuverability may defeat most missile defense systems, and they may be used to improve long-range
conventional and nuclear strike capabilities. There are no existing countermeasures.” Viewers can go through the report from the
link given in the ‘Description’ section below. In its response to the GAO, the Department
of Defense described the report as “an accurate although sobering macro picture of how the
US stands in the world against emerging threats.” Another important aspect of the missile is
its plasma cloud. As per multiple reports, the missile is completely
covered by a plasma cloud during the flight. The plasma cloud would absorb radio frequencies
emitted from radars and since the waves are not reflected back, it will essentially mean
that the missile will be invisible. It is highly likely that the missile will
be detected very late and this will make intercepting Zircon almost impossible to intercept with
the current crop of air defense systems. Gremyashchiy armed with Zircon will be a credible
threat to American assets, especially the US Navy supercarrier and the carrier strike
group. Since Zircon is heavy and fast, it will have
lots of Kinetic Energy which will come into play along with the explosive warhead and
a single hit from it could be enough to cripple even a supercarrier. Secondly, with Zircon, the warship would be
able to target important land targets as the Aegis BMD will not be able to intercept them. It remains to be seen how
the U.S responds.