Early in the morning on August 21, during their latest combined long-range attack involving nearly 600 drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, russians launched a 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile.
The strike by this missile has been confirmed through analysis of the debris, as Defense Express has learned from its own sources. According to the information, this was only the 14th launch of the Zircon missile to date.
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This is the same missile that was initially reported as unidentified in the Ukrainian Air Force report, before its identification was confirmed. The result of this launch was reported as unsuccessful. Ultimately, Zircon missiles traditionally demonstrate very low accuracy combined with a small warhead, which exposed the biggest scam of the russian Ministry of Defense.
After two Zircon missiles used by russia to strike Kyiv were shot down in the spring, russian propagandists have avoided mentioning this missile, although it is included in Putin's so-called "wunderwaffe" list, which he praised for its "uniqueness."
At the same time, it should be noted that the 3M22 Zircon is equipped with a hypersonic ramjet engine. The missile can reach speeds of up to 5.5 Mach in the upper atmosphere. Moreover, during its descent over the target area, it accelerates to a peak speed of 7.5 Mach, slowing down to 4.5 Mach closer to the ground.
It should be noted that for this unsuccessful attack, russians launched Zircon missiles from temporarily occupied Crimea, as they had done in all previous strikes. The most probable launch site for these missiles is the Object-100 Utes coastal missile system, also called Sotka, near Rezervne.
This is a stationary underground coastal defense facility that was built in the 1960s for P-35 missiles. They have also been occasionally used for missile strikes.
during this attack on the night of August 21, according to the Ukrainian Air Force report, russians launched 574 Shahed-type drones and decoys, four Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles, two Iskander or KN-23 ballistic missiles, 19 Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles, 14 Kalibr cruise missiles, and one Zircon missile.
The Defense Forces of Ukraine intercepted 546 drones (95%), 18 Kh-101 cruise missiles (95%), 12 Kalibr missiles (86%), and only one Kinzhal missile. So, it is important to use air defense systems with anti-missile capabilities to intercept both ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
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