Russia hypersonic Zircon missile reaches 6200 mph

Russia's new hypersonic anti-ship Zircon missile has reached eight times the speed of sound (about 6100 mph) during the test, a source with Russia's defense sector told TASS.

The source noted that Zircon missiles can be launched from universal launching platforms 3C14 which are also used for the Onyx and Caliber missiles.

It is expected that the new missiles will be installed at the heave nuclear-powered cruisers Peter the Great and Admiral Nakhimov.

The expected range with a new type of fuel is about 1000 km (600 miles) at Mach 5-6. The export version will be limited to 400 kilometers range. Launching platform is the 3S14 Agat, also used to launch the SS-N-26 Strobile and SS-N-27 Sizzler missiles.

The WU-14 was the Pentagon's code name for a Chinese experimental hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), which is now called the DF-ZF.

The DF-ZF is a hypersonic missile delivery vehicle that has been flight-tested by the Chinese seven times, on 9 January, 7 August and 2 December 2014; 7 June and 27 November 2015; and again in April 2016.

The DF-ZF HGV can reach speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10 (i.e., between 6,173 km/hour (3,836 mph) and 12,359 km/hour (7,680 mph).

The USA has had several hypersonic missile and vehicle tests. The main US systems were the X-51 and the HTV-2.