Tit-for-tat war in Europe has continued with the Russian Federation announcing this week that a Zircon hypersonic missile had successfully struck its target during a test in the Arctic, making it the fifth test since January.
The Zircon missile is designed to travel through space at more than 20 times the speed of sound, making it significantly faster than the world’s current nuclear warhead-launching missiles. The Hypersonic Vehicle – which resembles a stealth aircraft – as carried by the SS-N-24 multiple launch rocket system was fired from the Plesetsk missile launch center in Russia.
The Federation claimed the missile had hit its target in the winter and said it will continue test development.
The news comes on the heels of Russian ambassador Alexander Zasypkin’s statement that the US-sponsored missile defense system in Europe would make “missile war” inevitable. The defense system, the “Phased Adaptive Approach,” which was recently enhanced by the Obama administration and updated by President Trump, has long been called a “Cold War” relic by American defense experts. The Russians, in turn, have long claimed that a system like the Phased Adaptive Approach makes all American global security efforts obsolete. Zasypkin has not shied away from saying this in recent weeks.
President Trump continues to promote the Phased Adaptive Approach, which offers plans for an increase in defense spending but does not require a system like the Russians, to justify the extra funds being spent.
Today Russia fired another nuclear-capable missile, this time a hypersonic glide vehicle, from the Arctic. It reached an altitude of over 15 km and traveled at more than five times the speed of sound. The launch exceeded all international standards for launch safety. The test, officially described as a ‘seismic test’ and called a ‘hit-to-kill’ test of Zircon ICBM (probably hypersonic glide vehicle), which will be used for guided precision strikes. The ICBM is a part of ICBM modernization program which will bring the capacity of our nuclear forces to 25 warheads. pic.twitter.com/sAhaVaEVNT — Viktor Ozerov (@ViktorOVerge) June 8, 2021
The missile test this week comes as NATO commanders and the President Trump trade criticism over Russian meddling in the U.S. election. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday said he was “very concerned” about Russian meddling in the upcoming election, citing “the liberal press” of Russia.
Stealing the last minute show ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Argentina this week, the President has also mentioned that NATO allies do not need to give Russia whatever it wants in exchange for a possible North American missile shield in Europe.
Read the full story at CNN.
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