OREANDA-NEWS Russia is developing a new coastal missile system (BRK) for the Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile. This was reported to TASS by two sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry.

"The Reutov NPO Mashinostroeniya is developing the latest coastal missile system for the Zirkon hypersonic missile. It is assumed that it can enter service with the Navy before the end of 2022," one of them said.

According to another source of the agency, the new complex with the Zircon missile, like its predecessor, the Bastion missile defense system with Oniks (Yakhont) missiles, will have the ability to hit both surface and ground targets.

NPO Mashinostroeniya (part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation) did not comment on this information to TASS.

Earlier, Anatoly Svintsov, deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroeniya, said that the company has a large backlog on the aviation version of the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. On the air of the Military Acceptance program on the Zvezda TV channel, he noted that "when the time comes, we will definitely continue this work, but for now the country already has a hypersonic aviation missile - this is the Dagger missile." He added that Zircon was originally developed in both marine and aviation versions, and "the customer decided at the first stage to intensify work on the creation of a marine version of the rocket."