Can an anti -ship "zircon" nuclear landing rocket - experts

There is an assumption that the Kremlin has developed not so much an anti-ship rocket as a medium-range hypersonic launch rocket, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. According to the statement of the GUR Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Russia has increased production of hypersonic missiles 3m22 "Zircon" up to 10 units per month. However, there is no appropriate number of carriers at this rate.

In this regard, the Defense Express observers found out whether the plan in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was not to create an anti-ship rocket, as it was initially stated, but a launch of the Earth-Earth class. The material says that today only some platforms for "zirconies" are known-it is a frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov", atomic submarine of the project 885 "Ash" K-560 "Severodvin", as well as several modernized launchers. , in particular, possibly "Object 10".

From the very beginning, the rocket was positioned as an anti -ship, but in this case, experts say, it has a number of significant drawbacks for such purposes. In particular, the masses of the battle part of 150 kg are absolutely not enough for effective damage to even frigates, not to mention aircraft carriers.

Meanwhile, if you make an extremely cautious assumption and remove the word "anti -ship", the result is a hypersonic rocket with a range of up to 1000 km, which can carry a nuclear warhead. In addition, rockets can be integrated into modernized ground launchers "Bastion", which in the basic version launch missiles "Onyx", which will make the "Zircon" rocket class "Earth-Earth".

If this is true, then ultimately 3m22 becomes a launch of the Earth-Earth class, with the possibility of launches from mobile complexes. "If the assumption is true, then the Kremlin actually developed a rocket up to 1000 km, which has a complex aerobalist flight profile in the atmosphere, which offsets its interception on significant ranges from SM-3 missions," the observers write.