REUTOV /Moscow Region/, January 27. /TASS/. The shipborne Tsirkon hypersonic missile will be accepted for service in the Russian Navy this year, Alexander Leonov, CEO and chief designer of the Reutov Research and Production Association of Machine-Building, told reporters on Friday.
When asked by TASS about whether the Tsirkon hypersonic missile had its range limit of over 900 km as reported by the Defense Ministry in the wake of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate’s deployment in distant waters, he replied: "You know, I don’t not talk about performance characteristics. I can confirm what our military says while it is not accepted here to elaborate. But this is not the maximum range. The missile is set to be accepted for service in the Navy this year."
Standard procedures in this work are under way, the chief executive said.
The missile is mass-produced and the cutting-edge frigate Admiral Gorshkov has already received it as its armament. The issue of accepting the hypersonic weapon for service is "a purely organizational issue," he explained.
"A standard set of procedures is under way to formalize documents on accepting the Tsirkon for service. There is nothing unusual about that," the chief executive said.
The Tsirkon hypersonic missile was engineered and is produced by the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building based in the town of Reutov in the Moscow Region (part of Tactical Missiles Corporation). The first test-launches of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile from the underwater carrier, the nuclear-powered submarine Severodvinsk, were carried out.