Russian military expert: Kremlin would be foolish to use new Zircon missiles against the US
Russia’s Zircon missiles cannot cause serious damage to the US, even though they are presented as an unstoppable weapon, claims Russian military expert Konstantin Sivkov.
In an interview with the Vzglyad news outlet, Sivkov said that it is “utter folly” to think that two or three Russian vessels in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific could destroy America’s military headquarters with Zircon missiles.
“These ships couldn’t even come within 500-1000 kilometers of the US coast. A powerful system for monitoring the above-water and submarine situation is deployed there,” observed the Russian expert, who is also president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems and a doctor of military sciences.
“This is a failure to understand what we are talking about. The Zircon is an anti-ship missile, designed to destroy groups of ships. It can also be fired at ground targets, but for all its speed advantages, it carries a normal warhead. And to destroy command centers, especially underground ones with powerful defenses, a large weapons discharge is needed. I can’t imagine which three ships are being referred to,” Sivkov remarked.
When assessing the theoretical likelihood of carrying out the task at hand, Sivkov said that it would be advisable to use submarines that can launch missiles with a range of 12,000 km.
Retired Rear Admiral Vsevolod Khmyrov said previously that Zircon missiles would be guaranteed to destroy the US’s decision-making centers.
“A hypersonic system such as the Zircon will effectively penetrate any anti-air and anti-missile defense systems. Nothing can protect against it,” Khmyrov observed.
During his annual address to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the work to develop the Zircon is proceeding successfully and on schedule. He said that the missile will have a speed in excess of Mach 9 and a range of more than 1,000 km. During the speech, he also said that he is prepared to attack the US’s “decision-making centers” if necessary.
When ready, the Zircon missiles will be deployed on new and existing naval ships and submarines.
Sivkov said previously that the destruction of the US could be guaranteed if Russia were to launch a strike against certain geographical zones of North America, namely the Yellowstone and Pacific faults. In such a scenario, the Russian military expert believes that “the destruction of the US and the entire transnational elite would be guaranteed”.