The Russian Navy (VMF) has gained the ability to use hypersonic "Zircons" without building new ships. The missile turned out to be fully compatible with the 3S-14 universal shipborne launch system, which is already used for "Kalibr" and "Onyx", explained military expert Boris Rozhin.
According to him, this allows the same ship to change its armament composition depending on the task — to use anti-ship, land-attack, or hypersonic missiles without modernizing the launch systems.
The practice of using "Zircon" hypersonic missiles has fully confirmed the high declared characteristics and demonstrated the superiority of the missiles over current air defense systems.
According to open data, "Zircon" reaches speeds of up to Mach 8–9 and uses a ramjet hypersonic air-breathing engine. The unit receives oxygen directly from the atmosphere, which allows reducing the missile's mass and increasing its potential flight range.
However, Western military analyst Fabian Hinz stated that existing data does not allow unequivocally considering "Zircon" a full-fledged hypersonic cruise missile. According to his information, "Zircon" is a quasi-ballistic missile with a rocket engine, not an air-breathing one.