The Russian Defense Ministry is starting batch production of Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missiles, and it will be formalized this year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel on the sidelines of the Army 2022 forum.
“We are starting batch production of the Tsirkon missile. In fact, we have made it operational, and this will be formalized this year, let’s call it that,” he said.
Shoigu added that production of advanced weapons systems, including Sarmat missiles, was included in the contracts inked at the Army 2022 forum.
“As for Kinzhal missiles, of course, [their] production will be continued,” he said.
The Army 2022 international military-technical forum was held on August 15-21 at the Patriot exhibition center outside Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry was the organizer of the forum.
The 3M22 Zircon, also spelled as 3M22 Tsirkon (NATO reporting name: SS-N-33) is a scramjet powered maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile.
Zircon is a maneuvering, winged hypersonic cruise missile with a lift-generating center body. A booster stage with solid-fuel engines accelerates it to supersonic speeds, after which a scramjet motor with liquid-fuel (JP-10 jet fuel) in the second stage accelerates it to hypersonic speeds.
The missile’s range is estimated to be 135 to 270 nautical miles (155 to 311 mi; 250 to 500 km) at low level, and up to 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) in a semi-ballistic trajectory; average range is around 400–450 km (250–280 mi; 220–240 nmi). According to Russian media in 2017, the longest possible range is 540 nmi (620 mi; 1,000 km) and for this purpose a new fuel was created. Some internet sources even claim the range of missile can reach 1,000 – 2,000 km, depending on the type of target.