Russia's newest hypersonic missile, the Zircon, may be made of refractory coatings and composites based on boron and carbon fibers. This was stated by engineer and military expert Valery Ageev.
He reminded that hypersonic flights are associated with extreme heating of the missile's structure. This condition complicates production and increases its cost.
This requires the use of special materials – beryllium alloys, ablative materials, boron and carbon fiber composites, plasma spraying of refractory coatings.
Ageev added that the Zircon does not act as a universal weapon, despite its high speed and potential effectiveness.
Its shortcomings are related to the physical limitations of hypersonic flight, difficulties in guidance and detection systems, and technological challenges.
The Zircon is capable of speeds up to Mach 9 and has a range of up to 1000 km. Military analyst Yuri Knutov emphasized that it is impossible to shoot down the missile with existing air defense systems.