Russia is in the process of equipping its new nuclear submarines with hypersonic Zircon missiles, the head of Russia’s largest shipbuilder told the RIA state news agency in an interview published on Monday.
“Multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will … be equipped with the Zircon missile system on a regular basis,” , Alexei Rakhmanov, chief executive officer of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told RIA.
“Work in this direction is already underway.”
Yasen-class submarines, also known as Project 885M, are nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines, built to replace Soviet-era nuclear attack submarines as part of a programme to modernise the army and fleet.
The sea-based Zircon hypersonic missiles have a range of 900 km (560 miles), and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them.
President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that Russia would start mass supplies of Zircon missiles as part of the country’s efforts to boost its nuclear forces.
The Russian multi-purposes frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which has tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean earlier this year, has been already equipped with Zircon missiles.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday that Russian weapons were showing their effectiveness in Ukraine.
In remarks shown on state television, Shoigu said that “much-hyped” Western weaponry had shown itself to be “far from perfect” in the course of fighting in Ukraine.
Russia will deliver an order of S-400 anti-aircraft systems to India within the agreed timeframe, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian defence export official on Monday as saying.
India is the world’s biggest arms importer and still mostly uses Russian technology for traditional arms, but officials in New Delhi have expressed concern that Russia‘s war in Ukraine could delay planned deliveries of weapons and equipment.
“The production of S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems is being carried out according to schedule,” Interfax quoted Dmitry Shugaev, head of Russia‘s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying.
“The delivery of the equipment of the S-400 Triumf system is expected to be completed within the agreed time frame,” he said in comments made during an armed forces event.
India purchased the S-400 Triumf air defence system units in 2018 for $5.4 billion. Three of the systems have been delivered and two more are still awaited.
The deliveries are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, according to Interfax.
The Indian Air Force said in March that the war in Ukraine was holding up vital defence supplies from Russia.
New Delhi has been seeking in recent years to diversify imports or replace them with home-built hardware.
It is buying French fighter jets, Israeli drones and U.S. jet engines. But Russia still accounted for $8.5 billion of the $18.3 billion India has spent on arms imports since 2017, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
