Putin deploys warship armed with 'unstoppable' 7,000mph Zircon nuke missile 'on combat duty' as it sails towards UK | The Sun
VLADIMIR Putin's warship armed with "unstoppable" 7,000mph Zircon nuke missiles has set sail towards Britain.
Equipped with one of the world's deadliest weapons, Admiral Gorshkov has been deployed on "combat duty" through the Atlantic and Indian oceans as well as the Mediterranean.
The warship – armed with new Mach 9 hypersonic Zircon nuclear missiles – is leading a Russian naval task force in a show of strength to the West as the Ukraine war rages on.
Mad Vlad beamed as he announced "an important, if not momentous, event" as the vessel embarked on its mission.
"This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system – 'Zircon' – which has no analogues," he said.
"As I said, it has no equivalent in any country in the world.
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"I am sure that such a powerful weapon will allow us to reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and help ensure our country's national interests."
Putin vowed to continue "develop the combat capabilities of the armed forces and produce promising weapons".
"I would like to wish the ship's crew every success in their service for the good of the Motherland," he said.
The vessel arrived at the Northern Fleet’s main base in Arctic port Severomorsk late last year after scheduled maintenance at Kronstadt Marine Plant.
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The new mission is expected to take the Gorshkov from Severomorsk past the UK as it heads for war games in the Mediterranean.
The Russians have not disclosed the exact route or timings.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said: "This ship, armed with 'Zircons', is capable of delivering pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on land."
In a chilling warning, he said the hypersonic missiles could overcome any missile defence system.
The missiles fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of over 1,000km, Shoigu said.
Earlier this year, the Zircon was fired from the Admiral Gorshkov in the Barents Sea and hit a target at a range of 625 miles in the White Sea.
The Kremlin previously branded the deadly weapon, which carries a conventional or nuclear warhead, “unstoppable”.
Putin has previously boasted the missiles have no rivals in the world.
Russian propaganda channel TV Zvezda warned the frigate "will very soon become the most dangerous enemy of surface ships in the world’s oceans".
The Zircon will be deployed on Russian frigates and, later, on submarines.
Earlier it was identified by Moscow’s state-controlled TV as Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out American cities in the event of an atomic conflict.
TV Zvezda – a channel owned by the Russian defence ministry – said: “The Russian Zircon hypersonic missile's stealth features have been disclosed.
“The speed of the Zircon hypersonic missile is so high that it prevents the opponent's air defence system from detecting its impact in time.
“In fact, its launch will be known only after the target has been hit.”
The missile also has a “variable trajectory” to avoid detection, viewers were told.
The Zircon or Tsirkon is only one of Putin's terrifying superweapons.
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The deadly RS-28 Sarmat missile can fly 11,000 miles, carry 15 warheads and has the potential to destroy an area the size of France.
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