Russia: New Nuclear Submarines to Be Equipped with Hypersonic Missiles

The CEO of the United Shipbuilding Corporation in Russia, Alexei Rakhmanov, stated in an interview with Russian media agency, published today, that Russia will equip its new nuclear submarines with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles. He added: "The multipurpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will be permanently equipped with the Tsirkon missile system. Work in this direction is already underway." The Yasen-M class submarines are armed with cruise missiles and operate on nuclear power, built to replace Soviet-era nuclear attack submarines as part of an effort to modernize the military and fleet. The range of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles is 900 kilometers and they can exceed the speed of sound multiple times, making them difficult to defend against. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia would begin mass production of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles as part of the country's efforts to strengthen its nuclear forces. The Russian multipurpose frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which tested its offensive capabilities in the western Atlantic earlier this year, has been equipped with Tsirkon missiles.