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Russia builds 'unstoppable' 4,600mph missile that could destroy Royal Navy's new carriers
Mirror, U.K. ^ | Mar 25, 2017 | SEAN RAYMENT

Posted on 03/26/2017 6:53:13 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki

Russia has developed an “unstoppable” hypersonic missile capable of destroying the Royal Navy’s most sophisticated warships, the Sunday People can reveal.

Kremlin military chiefs claim they have built an anti-ship cruise missile capable of travelling at between five and six times the speed of sound - 3,800 mph to 4,600mph.

Now experts fear the missile, called the Zircon, could sink the Royal Navy ’s two new £6bn state-of-the air aircraft carriers in a single strike.

The missile flies more than twice the speed of a sniper’s bullet and is almost impossible to stop.

The cruise missile is powered by a “scramjet” - an air-breathing jet engine that can reach incredible speeds.

A swarm attack involving a dozen missiles against the world’s most modern warships would be devastating, experts believe.

The Zircon missile is believed to have a range of up to 500 miles and can be fitted with a series of warheads from high explosive to nuclear.

It can be fired from land, sea and submarines and could prove to be the most important and deadly weapon of the 21st century.

(Excerpt) Read more at mirror.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: cruisemissile; royalnavy; russia
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To: davidb56
Moskito, Bramos, Yakhont cruise missiles, they are quite old. Cannot rememer now name of anti-aircraft system with scramjet missiles, Cube or something like that, designed in mid-sixties.
61 posted on 03/26/2017 9:09:09 PM PDT by Cossak (()
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To: freedumb2003

The Russians are our natural allies


62 posted on 03/26/2017 9:10:46 PM PDT by vooch
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To: central_va

“In peacetime you don’t normally shoot cruise missiles at other country ships in international waters.”

The reason we were (actually 25 or less) miles off the coast of Crimea was intimidation. Is that intimidation still valid if the ship has missiles trained on it that are mere seconds away? Take into account that Russia considers Crimea its coast, not Ukraine’s like we do.

Plus China already considers much of the South China sea their territorial waters. They don’t recognize our international waters or right of navigation. We played chicken when we sailed 12 miles off the coast of their artificial island. They backed down. Someday they may not.

Just saying, the world aint that peaceful, doesn’t share “our” territorial views and is gonna become less so.


63 posted on 03/26/2017 9:28:19 PM PDT by FreeInWV
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To: Gargantua
I have no clue but if you happen to find some let me know.

This is allegedly the work of one of them

64 posted on 03/26/2017 9:39:37 PM PDT by atomic_dog
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Once the launch foilies fall alway, time to deploy countermeasures against the zircon encrusted tweezers.


65 posted on 03/26/2017 9:57:17 PM PDT by printhead (I need a new tagline. Happy days are here again.)
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To: atomic_dog

Wow. If that happened when it was submerged, the shockwave must’ve been tremendous. Think what it must have been like to be on that vessel when that hit. Wow.


66 posted on 03/27/2017 12:14:08 AM PDT by Gargantua ("Still not tired of winning---beeyotch!" ;^)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

We have airborne lasers..


67 posted on 03/27/2017 12:27:17 AM PDT by Davy Crocket
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Disturbing. Mach 7 is almost 1.5 miles per second. Hopefully Airborne Early Warning aircraft would detect these. Otherwise, air defense ships would detect them 25 to 30 miles out. Thats 11 to 15 seconds to detect and destroy them.
http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/focus-analysis/naval-technology/3810-analysis-3k22-and-3m22-zircon-the-next-generation-hypersonic-missile-of-the-russian-navy.html


68 posted on 03/27/2017 12:55:38 AM PDT by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers.")
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To: sukhoi-30mki

I remember reading that Khrushchev told Kennedy that they were churning out hydrogen tipped ICBM’s like sausages. They didn’t have one operational per a satellite photo.


69 posted on 03/27/2017 1:01:31 AM PDT by Crucial
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To: sukhoi-30mki

It would hardly need a warhead at those speeds. Simply put a tungsten nose-cone on it. The kinetic energy alone would do the job.

Not sure about the aerodynamics at low altitudes. I would think anything flying at high-Mach would be coming in from high-altitude.


70 posted on 03/27/2017 3:04:11 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: central_va

There’s one flaw in your strategy. What if this weapon (or any other anti-ship missile) is the first shot of the war? A sucker-punch. We only have... what?... 11 carriers. In a pinch we might be able to deploy 8 of them (globally). Take 1 out in the opening salvo and you’ve done a lot of damage.


71 posted on 03/27/2017 3:10:32 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: sukhoi-30mki

The U.K. will be right on it as soon as they address their muzlim issue. Right away, no worries...and there are a lot of real men left there to help out.


72 posted on 03/27/2017 3:19:07 AM PDT by CincyRichieRich (Drain the swamp. Build the wall. Open the Pizzagate. I refuse to inhabit any safe space.)
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To: FreeInWV
Just saying, the world aint that peaceful, doesn’t share “our” territorial views and is gonna become less so.

Point taken. Yet anything that moves in bulk commerce moves on the oceans. The major day-to-day purpose for the USN is to act as a guarantor, a beat-cop. Any major nation taking such a shot is upsetting a lot of apple carts.

Iraq basically got away (for a time) with shooting at the "Stark". But Iran provoked a major response when it floated mines in the Persian Gulf.

73 posted on 03/27/2017 3:21:59 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: Gargantua

The Kursk had it’s bow removed after recovery. The Russians claimed a collision with a NATO boat (US or Brit). Some conspiracy-minded analyst theorized that it took a MK-48 torpedo hit right in the control room.

Considering they were practicing a missile drill at the time against a Russian surface unit, I’ll stick with the likelihood of an internal explosion.


74 posted on 03/27/2017 3:26:50 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: davidb56

The story does sound like a bunch of vaporware!


75 posted on 03/27/2017 3:43:50 AM PDT by mdmathis6
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To: SamAdams76

“What about American ships?”

This is “The UK Mirror.” In Journalism 101 you are taught to personalize every bad event. Thus, sixty-five million years ago in Mexico the local paper’s headline would read, “Giant asteroid ruins dinosaur birthday party.”


76 posted on 03/27/2017 4:43:50 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (n)
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To: central_va

If the Russians were serious about sinking a carrier, then they would use a nuclear warhead, not conventional ... and that would take out a carrier.

In fact, any skipper, worth the name, would assume that in such a situation that any missiles coming against his ship would be nuclear and act accordingly.


77 posted on 03/27/2017 4:57:31 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Scrambler Bob

There is no missile design to inflict damage below the waterline. LOL.


78 posted on 03/27/2017 5:24:34 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: PIF

There is no real defense against a nuclear warhead blowing up within a few hundred yards of a ship. That said there will never be another nuclear war if both sides have them. The last 70 years have proven that. Hell, we didn’t nuke Korea or Vietnam and there wasn’t threat of retaliation.


79 posted on 03/27/2017 5:27:50 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va

You don’t take out the missile you go after the delivery system before it launches.

or

You mess with its guidance system.


80 posted on 03/27/2017 5:33:35 AM PDT by Loud Mime (Liberalism: Intolerance masquerading as tolerance, Ignorance masquerading as Intelligence)
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