OREANDA-NEWS. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov deployed in the White Sea successfully fired a Zircon hypersonic missile at a ground target on the coast of the Barents Sea. This is reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the Ministry of Defense.

“According to objective control data, the Zircon missile smoothly hit the target with a direct hit at a distance of over 350 km. During the tests, all the tactical and technical characteristics of the Zircon rocket were confirmed. The flight speed was about Mach 7, ”the official message informs.

This shooting was the first launch of Zircon missiles from the beginning of this year and the fourth ever launch from the Admiral Gorshkov spacecraft.

It is recalled, "Zircon" is the world's first sea-based hypersonic cruise missile, its flight speed reaches about nine speeds of sound, the maximum firing range - up to 1,000 km.

It is planned to equip submarines and surface ships of the Russian Navy with the Zircon complex, as the Defense Ministry noted.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexei Krivoruchko said when the Zircon missiles would begin to enter the Russian Armed Forces in series.

An informer in the military-industrial complex told the agency RIA Novosti that earlier that by the end of July, as portion of the starting country's tests of the shipborne missile system with the Zircon hypersonic missile, firing at land and sea targets from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov will be performed.