It is more difficult for the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to intercept the Russian hypersonic missile "Zircon" than the aeroballistic "Kinzhal". This was pointed out by military expert Yevgeny Damantsev.
He noted that the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic cruise missile is capable of flying at a speed of up to 5.7-7M up to the approach section of the trajectory, providing the enemy with a minimum time window for interception.
At the same time, the Kinzhal's speed in the dense layers of the troposphere decreases from 10M to 4 - 3.5M due to the lack of long-term engine operation modes and aerodynamic drag.
The temporary "window" for this for the calculation of the "Patriot PAC-3MSE" SAM system is at least half as small as in relation to the "Kinzhal". However, with distributed AN/MPQ-65 radar stations, this probability exists, because the speed of the tracked targets is 2100 m/s.
The exact tactical and technical characteristics of the "Zircon" are not disclosed. On February 20, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his address to the Federal Assembly, stated that the missile from the Zircon complex has a range of more than a thousand kilometers and is capable of developing a speed equal to 9 M.
In early December 2024, the Ministry of Defense for the first time showedthe appearance of the "Zircon" in a video from exercises of the Navy and Aerospace Forces in the Mediterranean Sea. The department had previously demonstrated footage of the launch of the "Zircon", but then the missile was shown clearly and from several angles.
The nose of the "Zircon" was covered by a cylindrical casing, which, probably, is fired off during takeoff, but its exact purpose is unknown.
Earlier, a military expert called the Gibka-S anti-aircraft missile system on the Tigr armored vehiclethe best option for covering oil depots and airbases from the Lyuty and Baba-Yaga UAVs.
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