Zircon (missile)

This article is about the Russian hypersonic missile. For other uses, see Zircon (disambiguation).

3M22 Tsirkon Zircon
Type	Hypersonic missile
Place of origin	Russia
Service history
In service	In production
Used by	Russia
Production history
Designer	NPO Mashinostroyeniya
Produced	2012–present
Specifications
Engine	Scramjet
Fuel capacity	600 miles (970 km)
Operational range	1,000 km (540 nmi; 620 mi)
Speed	Mach 8 (6,100 mph; 9,800 km/h; 2,700 m/s)
Launch platform	Aircraft, submarines, ships, and ground based SAM systems

Zircon or 3M22 Tsirkon (Russian: Циркон, NATO reporting name: SS-N-33) is a maneuvering hypersonic missile being developed in Russia. Its latest successful launch was on June 3, 2017, almost a year earlier than had been announced by Russian officials.

Design

The Zircon is believed to be 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 in the second stage accelerates it to hypersonic speeds. The missile represents a further development of the HELA (Hypersonic Experimental Flying Vehicle) developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya that was on display at the MAKS Air Show in 1995.

The Zircon'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 state-owned media, the longest range is 540 nmi (620 mi; 1,000 km) and for this purpose a new fuel was created.

The Zircon can travel at speed of Mach 5 – Mach 6 (3,800–4,600 mph; 6,100–7,400 km/h; 1,700–2,000 m/s). Such high speed have led to concerns that it could penetrate existing naval defense systems; the Royal Navy's Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile is only capable of intercepting targets flying up to Mach 3.

The missile will be incorporated into the Kirov-class battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov in 2018, and the Pyotr Velikiy in 2022. The ships will have their P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles replaced with 3S-14 vertical launch systems capable of holding P-800 Oniks and Kalibr missiles as well as the Zircon; each battlecruiser will be equipped with 72 such missiles. After the upgrade, the battlecruisers can carry 40–80 anti-ship missiles of different types. Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates will have possibility to carry 8 while the Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates 16 Zircon missiles. The missile will be also used by undersea and aerial platforms, including the Lider-class destroyer, Husky-class submarine, Yasen-class submarine and Tu-160M2 Blackjack and Tupolev PAK DA strategic bombers.

In flight, the missile is completely covered by the plasma cloud, the cloud absorbs any rays of the radio frequencies and making the missile invisible to radars. Missiles exchange information in flight and can be controlled by commands if necessary.

Development

Prototypes were test-launched first from a Tu-22M3 bomber in 2012-2013. Launches from a ground platform followed in 2015, with first success achieved in 2016. Completion of state trials on the whole family is projected for 2020.

In April 2017, it was reported that the Zircon had reached a speed of Mach 8 (6,100 mph; 9,800 km/h; 2,700 m/s) during a test.

Export

A version for export will have range limited to under 300 km in compliance with the MTCR or up to 400 km.

Service

According to Viktor Bondarev, the Zircon missile is already a part of the arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces.

See also

• BrahMos-II
• Kh-90
• Boeing X-51
• Kh-22 up to 1000 km
• skiff (missile) for seabed-based (in service)

Further reading

• Hypersonic missile "Zircon" why NATO is afraid of new Russian weapons (Russian)
• Hunting in Russian "Zircon" (Russian)