"Deterring the enemy fleet at a great distance": how the Zircon missiles and the Yasen-M submarines will strengthen the Russian Navy

The new Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan of project 885M Yasen-M, which became part of the Russian Navy in May, can carry Zircon hypersonic missiles for strikes against sea and ground targets.

This was announced during a single day of acceptance of military products by the commander of the 11th submarine division of the Northern Fleet, Rear Admiral Alexander Zarenkov.

The commander recalled that Kazan is the lead submarine of the modernized project Yasen-M.

"A feature of the project is the presence of universal launchers that allow the deployment of anti-ship missiles" Onyx ", hypersonic missiles" Zircon "or cruise missiles" Caliber ", which provides the ability to deliver multiple strikes both on surface and ground targets of the enemy," - said the admiral Zarenkov.

The naval commander added that the Yasen-M submarines should become the backbone of the Russian Navy's attack submarine forces.

Marine hypersound

The 3M22 Zircon is a Russian hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia.

Its fundamental difference from other Russian and foreign sea-based missiles is a significantly higher flight speed.

This missile is one of the most closed projects of the Russian military-industrial complex.

For a long time, nothing was known about its tactical and technical characteristics.

However, on February 20, 2019, in a message to the Federal Assembly, they were partially revealed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Nuclear submarine "Kazan" arrived at the point of permanent deployment in the Northern Fleet

• © mil.ru

He said that the flight speed of the ammunition will be Mach 9 (speeds of sound), and the range will be over 1,000 km.

The missile will be able to destroy both sea and ground targets. 

In May 2020, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexei Krivoruchko announced that the adoption of the complex is scheduled for 2021-2022.

"Zircon" is designed to arm nuclear submarines of projects 885, 885M, 949AM, surface ships of projects 22350, 23560, as well as rearmament of the cruiser of project 1144.2 "Admiral Nakhimov," Krivoruchko told National Defense magazine.

Then Krivoruchko also spoke about the planned test launches of the rocket from the surface ships of the project 22350 and the multipurpose nuclear submarines of the project 885M.

TASS, citing a source in the military-industrial complex, reported that the missile could be tested on the Severodvinsk submarine in August this year.

In July 2021, the rocket was successfully launched from the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov".

The frigate launched the Zircon from the White Sea, after which the rocket hit a target on the coast of the Barents Sea, which was at a distance of 350 km, with a direct hit.

Alexey Krivoruchko announced on August 10 that the tests of "Zircon" will be completed this year.

In turn, the official representative of the US defense department, John Kirby, said that "the new Russian hypersonic missiles have a potentially destabilizing effect and pose serious risks, since they are capable of delivering nuclear charges."

Kirby added that the United States is developing hypersonic systems that are not designed to deliver nuclear weapons.

It is worth noting that various American military leaders, government services and expert publications have repeatedly indicated that the United States is seriously lagging behind Russia in the field of creating hypersonic weapons.

Neither the United States nor other NATO countries possess such technologies, military expert Alexei Leonkov said in an interview with RT.

“Now the United States is just developing such a weapon for the ground forces, which is a two-stage rocket, where the first stage acts as a booster module.

Considering that Western countries have not engaged in the creation of supersonic anti-ship missiles, it is unrealistic to immediately jump from conventional missiles to hypersonic missiles in the shortest possible time, this will take more than a decade, ”the expert explained.

"Great equalizer"

Russia's intention to equip its latest submarines and ships with hypersonic sea-launched missiles has attracted the attention of Western military-political media.

Thus, the Military.com portal noted that the American sea-based missile defense system will not be able to intercept the Zircons on the way to the target.

“The delay time to react to an attack and send missiles to intercept is 8-10 seconds for US Aegis missile defense systems.

In these 8-10 seconds, the Russian Zircon missiles have already covered a distance of 20 kilometers, and the interceptor missiles are not flying fast enough to catch up with them, ”the portal notes.

Military.com also points out that the Buyan-class small missile ships armed with such missiles can carry up to 25 Zircons and will pose a serious threat to US Navy aircraft carriers.

“It would take less than half a dozen of these missiles to sink even the most advanced American aircraft carrier, such as the USS Gerald R. Ford,” the newspaper writes.

In turn, the publication The National Interest in its material called the "Zircon" rocket "the great equalizer."

• Material from The National Interest “The Great Equalizer.

  Meet the Russian Zircon hypersonic cruise missile

• © The National Interest

“The launcher will most likely be carried by a Russian nuclear submarine designed to launch cruise missiles, an improved submarine of the Yasen project - the most modern and advanced in the Russian Navy.

The hull of the improved submarine of the Ash project is made of non-magnetic or low-magnetic steel, which significantly reduces or completely removes its magnetic signature, "writes The National Interest.

Let us recall that the submarines of the Yasen project and its latest modernization Yasen-M are multipurpose nuclear submarines of the fourth generation, designed to destroy enemy surface warships, vehicles, submarines and ground targets.

"Ash" are equipped with vertical launchers, which provide the possibility of salvo firing high-precision cruise missiles.

Project 885M Yasen-M nuclear submarine Kazan, mentioned by Rear Admiral Alexander Zarenkov, became part of the Russian fleet in May 2021. 

The National Interest also notes that the latest Russian submarines armed with Zircons will pose a great danger to any ships and targets of a potential enemy.

“It is believed that the Zircon's payload will be conventional explosives, but that hardly matters.

At a speed of Mach 5 or more, the kinetic energy is such that, even if the warhead is filled with concrete, it will create a large-scale explosion if it hits the ground or punch a huge hole if it hits an aircraft carrier, ”the publication concludes.

As military expert Alexei Leonkov noted, the appearance in the Russian Navy of submarines equipped with sea-based hypersonic missiles will protect Russia from the so-called instant global strike, laid down in the US military doctrine.

“As you know, the main forces in the strategy of a global instant strike are the US Naval Forces and the NATO bloc, so the farther these forces are from the Russian borders, the better.

Just such deterrence is provided by the Zircon missile with a target range of up to 1000 km, ”the expert noted.

At the time of its creation, all factors of possible opposition from the forces of a potential enemy were taken into account, in particular, their air and missile defense systems, emphasized Alexey Leonkov.

“This weapon was developed on the basis of the Onyx missiles and became the next step in their evolutionary development.

For these missiles, universal launchers are used that can launch both Zircon missiles and Onyx and Caliber anti-ship missiles.

All new ships, 885M Yasen-M submarines, as well as ships of the Russian Navy, which will be modernized in the near future, will be equipped with such installations, ”Leonkov said.

Equipping the 885M Yasen-M submarines with reduced visibility with hypersonic weapons will increase the combat capabilities of the Russian fleet by several orders of magnitude, a military expert, director of the Air Defense Museum in Balashikha, Yuri Knutov, explained in an interview with RT.

"Equipping the Yasen-M nuclear submarine with Zircon missiles makes them one of the most powerful - they become an order of magnitude stronger than American multipurpose boats of a similar class, because they are capable of not only hitting aircraft carrier strike groups, but also striking ground targets", - the expert explained.

This is a rather serious threat that cannot be solved by air defense and missile defense systems, Yuri Knutov emphasized.

“These are breakthrough technologies that allow Russia, due to a small number of ultra-modern submarines armed with high-precision weapons of the fifth generation, to contain the enemy fleet at a great distance from the Russian shores,” the expert concluded.