Patriot останется не у дел: как гиперзвуковой «Циркон» обходит американский ЗРК и поражает цель

The time window is half the size of when repelling a "Caliber" strike

It is more difficult for the American Patriot anti-aircraft system to intercept the Russian hypersonic missile "Zircon" than the aeroballistic "Kinzhal". This was pointed out by military expert Evgeny Damantsev.

Hypersonic missile  "Zircon" before launch
Hypersonic missile "Zircon" before launch

He noted that the hypersonic cruise missile 3M22 "Zircon" 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 speed of the "Kinzhal" 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.
Evgeny Damantsev, military analyst

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 showed the 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.

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The nose of the "Zircon" was covered by a cylindrical casing, which, probably, is fired during the take-off process, but its exact purpose is unknown.

Earlier, a military expert called the Gibka-S anti-aircraft missile system on the Tigr armored vehicle the best option for covering oil depots and airbases from the Lyuty and Baba Yaga UAVs.

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