A senior Russian military commander told President Vladimir Putin on his 68th birthday today, Wednesday, that the country has tested its "Zirkon" missile, which is a supersonic "cruise" missile, and that it successfully hit a target in the Barents Sea.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Army - Valery Gerasimov - said during a video call with Putin, that the test strike was carried out on Tuesday, from the ship "Admiral Gorshkov" that was in the White Sea in northern Russia.
Putin, who has pledged to bolster Russia's military presence in the Arctic, spoke positively of hypersonic missiles and a new generation of Russian weapons during a speech in March 2018, and praised the launch test today, Wednesday.
"This is a big event not only in the life of the armed forces, but also for the whole of Russia, for the whole country," he told Gerasimov.
And Putin previously announced last week that the missile is able to fly at 9 times the speed of sound, and its range will be 1,000 kilometers.
The test of the "Zircon" missile comes amid tensions over arms control between Russia and the United States.
The New START Treaty, the last major treaty on nuclear weapons between the two countries, is due to expire in February.
The missile hit a target 450 kilometers away within 4 and a half minutes of reaching hypersonic speeds of more than Mach 8, Gerasimov said.