Russia's new Zircon missile could be a game changer
Jim Stone
I always thought the S-300 was over hyped when talked about years ago. However, Russia's latest missile system has zero hype, it is for real.
Russia's latest cruise missile can travel 4, 600 miles an hour at sea level. 4, 600 mph is no big deal for an ICBM that does not have to fight wind, but for a low altitude missile it is more than a first, it is a solid milestone and a game changer in the game of nuclear war.
Russia must have pushed the schedule on this missile forward, because it was not supposed to even be tested to the extent it has been for more than a year from now. The latest test showed that the missile can indeed perform as planned. Now, they are saying that rather than waiting until after 2020, they will have it deployed by the time they had originally planned to be as far with it as they are now. That means deployment in 2018 or before.
I have looked over the photos of the launch, and it appears to me that it is using exotic fuels and not hydrogen and oxygen. That would be expected if the performance is as high as it is - hydrogen and oxygen simply can't produce enough thrust to accomplish what this missile does. It leaves a smoke trail but I don't know if it is solid fuel doing it, it does not appear to be so. All I know is it has a solid fuel booster to get it off the ground, and then uses a scram jet. There will probably be more details about how this missile actually works released to the public if Russia is stupid. Don't bet on them being stupid.
I guess the real news in this is not that Russia finally delivered on all of the talk, and has done so on solid concrete terms, the real news is that Russia can now completely penetrate everything developed in the Strategic Defense Initiative anti missile program, at this time there is simply no way to stop a missile that can go so fast at such a low altitude.
Another thing that is important to note in this is that Russia believed it was absolutely critical to get this missile system up and running WAY ahead of schedule, not just a little ahead of schedule - Russia is ambush ahead of schedule with this. I would bet that Russia will have this deployed long before the neocons can conjure up an excuse for war with Russia.
This is a bona fide aircraft carrier killer, the real deal, and I really don't care how big of a wall of bullets an aircraft carrier support group can put up. All Russia has to do is monitor when planes are taking off, and then have the missile approach as a plane is being launched, and the decision will have to be made about whether or not the plane is going to be a casualty. Killing the missile, if it was even possible, would by default require the aircraft that just launched to be shot down if the missile approached from the direction the aircraft was taking off from, and the aircraft would take 500 bullets before the missile took even 1. Russia definitely, beyond all doubt, now has an ace in the hand.
How fast is 4, 600 miles an hour? Let's put this in perspective:
If the missile was skimming the surface of the ocean, and was far enough away to be 55 feet below the horizon, it would reach an aircraft carrier in a little under 7 seconds. Good luck with that. The only people who would go to war with that would be people who viewed America as being expendable.