Tsirkon hypersonic missile tests to be completed this year

Russia will complete trials of its Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile before the end of the year, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a 20 April Ministry of Defence board meeting. “We are planning to fit nuclear-powered submarines and blue water surface ships with this system,” he added.

The Northern Fleet will receive 245 major weapon systems this year, increasing the proportion of modern equipment to 62.3%, according to Shoigu. In addition, the proportion of professional soldiers in the fleet will also increase from the current 97% to 99.2% by the end of the year.

The Northern Fleet will test 79 weapon systems, including 13 ships and other vessels, and four nuclear-powered submarines: the Project 885M Novosibirsk, Project 885M Krasnoyarsk, and Project 955A Knyaz Oleg and Generalissimus Suvorov, Shoigu said.

“The Northern Fleet is conducting regular training in operating fighter aircraft from airfields on the islands of Arctic archipelagoes,” he reported. “Development of military infrastructure on the Arctic islands and the Arctic Ocean coast continues.”

Shoigu reported that construction of Temp airbase on the Novosibirsk Islands is reaching completion and that a military camp is being built in Tiksi in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the 3rd Air Defence Division.

A 3,500 m-long airstrip on which all types of aircraft can land was constructed at Nagurskaya airfield on Alexandra Land in 2020.