Russia Launches New Zircon Anti-Ship Missile at Sumy Region

Russia struck the Sumy region with its most advanced Zircon anti-ship missile, which was originally designed to target the U.S. Navy.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that the missile was launched at Ukraine to hit critical infrastructure facilities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky also stated that, according to preliminary data, Russia used a Zircon missile in its morning strike on the Sumy region.

Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, wrote in the Telegram group ‘Nikolaevsky Vanek’ that the missiles fired at the Sumy region were launched from the Cape Chauda area in Crimea.

According to preliminary data as of 09:30 a.m., Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 419 aerial targets. The Zircon missiles were not among the intercepted Russian weapons. The downed targets included:

• 405 enemy UAVs, including Shahed, Herbera, and other drones
• 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles
• 6 Iskander-M / KN-23 ballistic missiles
• 6 Iskander-K / Kalibr cruise missiles

Most of the strikes targeted Kyiv and the Kyiv region. In many districts of the capital, residential buildings were damaged as a result of the massive attack. Several medical facilities were also hit. According to law enforcement authorities, four people were killed.

The Zircon missile is rarely used for strikes against Ukraine because it was designed to destroy enemy ships.

It is likely that such launches are primarily intended to test the missile’s capabilities in real combat conditions.

At present, the Zircon missile is in service only with the Russian Navy. It is part of the arsenal of Project 22350 frigates, Yasen-M multipurpose submarines, and Project 949A Antey nuclear submarines undergoing modernization.

Zircon

News about the start of flight design tests of the new 3M22 Zircon anti-ship missile appeared back in 2016.

Official reports of test launches emerged only in 2020. In 2021, the tests continued and moved to the state evaluation phase.

The first contract for supplying the missiles to the navy was signed at the Army-2021 forum. Therefore, these missiles are considered among the most advanced in Russia.

Throughout the entire development period and until testing began, Russian agencies did not display models or graphical images of the Zircon, keeping its appearance and specifications secret.

The missile is launched with the help of a solid-fuel booster, which places it on the required trajectory and accelerates it to the minimum speed needed for the operation of the supersonic ramjet engine.

Earlier, Militarnyi suggested that the warhead found from a missile shot down in 2024 is significantly smaller than the one used in similar Russian supersonic anti-ship missiles. In terms of size, it is about 400 mm in diameter and 450 mm in length.

By weighing the fragments, it was determined that the warhead’s weight is close to 150–200 kg, of which the explosive charge accounts for approximately 40–80 kg.

The warhead casing is made of steel. The walls are fairly thin, but they become thicker closer to the nose section—this is necessary to withstand the impact load upon collision.

This design is similar to the warhead of the Oniks missile and is typical for anti-ship missiles, which do not need to penetrate thick armor or reinforced concrete.