Missiles, Radar & ☢ Nuclear Weapons.

[TsarSamuil]

Kinzhal hypersonic and Kalibr cruise missiles fired during massive Russian Navy drills in the Black Sea (VIDEOS)

RT.com
9 Jan, 2020 18:36

More than 30 warships and 40 aircraft got together for a major joint exercise of Russia's Black Sea and Northern Fleets, providing for a chance to see some of the country's most hyped weapons in action.

Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from two types of platforms during the drills in the Black Sea. The crews of Admiral Grigorovich frigate and Orekhovo-Zuevo small missile ship performed a surface firing, while Kolpino submarine launched a Kalibr from underwater. Those missiles were already used in actual combat, proving its efficiency during the Russian anti-terrorist operation in Syria.

A duo of MiG-31K fighter jets took to the air to test out Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at one of the seaside ranges. The hardware is one of several hypersonic systems prepared for the country's military together with Avangard glider, which is fitted on silo-based ICBMs, and Zircon (Tsirkon) missile, developed for the Navy.Those types of weapons are said to be able to overcome any existing air defenses by traveling several times faster than the speed of sound and constantly maneuvering.

The Black Sea Fleet boats Ivanovets and Naberezhnye Chelny have also fired P-270 Moskit anti-ship missiles, while the Utyos coastal missile systems destroyed the naval targets, which imitated enemy vessels.

The aerial part of the exercises included Su-30SM multipurpose fighters, Su-24M bombers and Tu-95 strategic bombers. Vladimir Putin observed the war games from aboard the Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser of the Northern Fleet.

Russian Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Nikolay Yevmenov, reported to the President that the drills have achieved all their targets. "The hardware proved its reliability, with new forms of its use tried out. The personnel also showed its professionalism."

Putin said that the amount of brand new hardware in the Russian Navy is about to reach 70 percent ,and that it should be kept at that level, so that "our country could maintain and strengthen is positions as one of the leading maritime powers."

[TsarSamuil]

Dead Hand: Russian Real-Life Doomsday Machine.

South Front
Jan 22, 2020

[TsarSamuil]

‘Missile hunters’: Russian military to have TWICE AS MANY radars able to spot stealthy hypersonic projectiles in Arctic.

RT.com
23 Jan, 2020 07:55

Moscow apparently plans to boost the number of state-of-the-art radars – designed to locate even the stealthiest flying targets – it has in the Arctic. The deployment will "significantly” increase Russia’s defense capabilities.

Citing military industry sources, TASS reports that the country’s General Staff is poised to deploy five more Resonance-N radars “capable of detecting hypersonic targets – in addition to the five already ordered.”

Once all online, the radars will shield the entire Russian Arctic from incoming “hypersonic devices,” the source said.

Such a deployment would “significantly increase the surveillance capabilities of the Russian armed forces,” Mikhail Khodarenok, a retired colonel in the Air Defense Forces and former General Staff officer, told RT.

“The station must have worked well in practice. After all, the Russian Defense Ministry rarely decides to double an equipment order.”

“A particularly valuable quality of Resonance is the ability to detect hypersonic cruise missiles,” he explained. The cutting-edge phased-array radar can spot and track low-observable targets at 600km as well as ballistic missiles flying 1,200km away at an altitude of 100km, the military expert told RT.

Back in the Cold War, the Soviet Union had an “extensive radar surveillance system” in the north, since its military considered the region the most likely direction for a missile attack by the US, according to Khodarenok.

“Now, this goal should be achieved through fewer but more sophisticated [radars].”

Earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia is spending far less on defense and using its money more efficiently by developing a series of advanced weapons that its rivals are struggling to copy.

He added that, while the Soviet Union was always trying to catch up to the US – whether it was the atomic bomb, long-range bombers or the first intercontinental missiles – things seem to have changed.

“Today, we have a unique situation in our new and recent history – they are trying to catch up with us,” he announced.

Russia has rolled out an array of state-of-the-art hypersonic weapons over the past year, with some already having entered service, including a hypersonic glider named ‘Avangard’.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia Completing Tests of Elements of S-500 Prospective Air Defence System.

MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 07:00 GMT 26.03.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Tests of certain elements of Russia's next-generation S-500 air defence missile system, including its launcher, are being completed, the director-general of the Design Bureau for Special Machine-Building (part of Almaz-Antey company), has said.

"In the interests of the air and missile defence troops, company experts have created units of the next-generation Triumfator-M mobile air defence system ... A launcher, components of a multi-functional locator and a missile defense locator, an equipped chassis for a command post, and transport units for an early-warning radar system have been developed, and their tests are being completed," Vladimir Dolbenkov has said in an interview with the Russian Defence magazine.

In June 2019, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that phased tests of various elements of the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) are being carried out with the launch of new missiles that have no analogues in the world. Later, the Deputy Minister of Defence of Russia Alexei Krivoruchko said that in 2020 there are plans to begin preliminary tests of the entire system.

The S-500 "Prometheus" (OKR "Triumfator-M") is a new generation ground-to-air defence system. It provides a universal approach, using long-range and high-altitude interception with increased missile defence potential and is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. This promising system is capable of hitting not only ballistic missiles, but also aerodynamic targets (aircraft, helicopters, other air targets), as well as cruise missiles.

[TsarSamuil]

S-500 is ‘Anti-Space Weapon’ That Will Fundamentally Transform Russia’s Air Defences – Fmr Commander.

MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 12:56 GMT 12.04.2020

Last month, a subsidiary of S-500 maker Almaz-Antey confirmed that multiple components of the next generation air defence system had been developed and tested, with the completed complex to start testing with the military later this year.

The S-500 is not just a conventional air and missile defence system, but an anti-space weapon whose introduction will fundamentally change Russia’s air defence capabilities, says Col. (ret) Sergei Khatylev, former head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special forces command of the Russian Air Force.

“The system is capable of solving several tasks, for example, the detection and destruction of conventional aerodynamic targets, airplanes and helicopters, cruise missiles – anything that flies at speeds up to hypersonic. But besides this, the S-500 can shoot down ballistic targets, and not just during the downward portion of their flight, but at all other stages as well. And here the speeds are already cosmic – several km per second,” Khatylev said, speaking to the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper.

With its ability to take out targets at a range of up to 600 km and an altitude of nearly 200 km, the S-500 can effectively defend against targets in near space. In other words, “this is an anti-space weapon,” Khatylev stresses. “The complex features a partition approach where one locator works on targets flying at maximum altitude, while the other is used for those flying near to the ground at altitudes up to 30 km,” he explains.
According to the retired commander, the S-500’s capabilities will fundamentally alter Russia’s missile defences, which, going back to the days of the Cold War, have traditionally been concentrated around Moscow.

“With the advent of a complex like the S-500, we can talk about the anti-missile defence of whole territories. Later, when the production of these systems is increased and they are improved, we’ll be able to speak about creating on their basis the aerospace defences of the entire Russian Federation,” Khatylev says.

Last month, the Design Bureau for Special Machine-Building, a subsidiary of Almaz-Antey, confirmed that the S-500’s launcher, multi-functional locator, missile defence locator command post chassis and transporter units for early warning radar have already been developed, with testing underway. Late last year, Russia’s defence ministry reported that state testing would begin in 2020, with deliveries to the military to start in 2025. Russian defence giant Rostec has indicated that the first priority will be to manufacture the system for the Russian military before any talk of exports can even begin.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia’s Zircon hypersonic missile ‘proves its unique qualities’ as naval tests near completion – Defense Ministry.

RT.com
26 Jul, 2020 18:09

The tests of Russia’s ship-based Zircon missile – one of several hypersonic weapons introduced by the country’s military – are successfully nearing completion, the Defense Ministry has said.

The recent dry runs, which were performed from aboard the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, have “confirmed the unique tactical and technical characteristics of this missile, as well as its ability to travel at hypersonic speeds,” the MoD said in a statement.

The Zircon will be able to reach speeds of up to Mach 9, nine times faster than the speed of sound. It will have an operational range of 1,000km, capable of hitting both water and land-based targets. The Defense Ministry said the Zircon is going to be placed on nuclear submarines and surface ships, but there are also plans to develop a ground-based version of the weapon.

Tests of the Zircon kicked off late last year, with Deputy Defense Minister Aleksey Krivoruchko saying that the missile is expected to come into service sometime in 2021 or 2022.

Russia apparently became the first nation to put a hypersonic weapon into use after the Avangard glide vehicle was introduced in December 2019.

Besides the Avangard and Zircon, the country’s ambitious hypersonic program also includes the air-launched Kinzhal (dagger) cruise missile. It too is undergoing tests at the moment, but it was already shown to the public during Victory Day parades on Red Square over the last few years.

The whole world, including superpowers China and the US, are chasing after Russia when it comes to hypersonic military technology, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed. But when they finally obtain these types of weapons, “we will have the means of combating them,” he stated.

[TsarSamuil]

Mach 8! Russian warship makes history by launching HYPERSONIC Zircon missile at mock target in far northern seas (VIDEO)

RT.com
7 Oct, 2020 09:01

The Russian Navy has successfully test-fired an ultra-fast Zircon anti-ship missile from its most advanced frigate in the far north. The state-of-the-art projectile hit a mock target after travelling 450km within minutes.

The Admiral Gorshkov, the navy’s most advanced guided-missile frigate, set off for the White Sea on Tuesday – an inlet within the Barents Sea – with the Zircon missile on board, Russia’s Defense Ministry revealed.

As part of live-fire trials, it dispatched the hypersonic cruise missile from one of its vertical silos. It was the first time the Zircon had been trialed for anti-ship warfare, and the weapon “directly hit the seaworthy target located 450km away," the ministry reported.

Incredibly, the missile reached a speed of Mach 8 during the trial – almost eight times faster than the speed of sound.

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the news on Wednesday, applauding “the enormous work of [Russian] scientists, designers, talented workers, and military specialists.” The mission’s success marks “a big step in equipping the armed forces with the most modern [weapons] systems,” he said.

The Zircon has been in development for several years, and Putin revealed its existence last year, along with that of other hypersonic weapons such as the Avangard (Vanguard) glider, and Kinzhal, an air-launched cruise missile.

Thought to be able to reach speeds of up to Mach 9, the Zircon will have an operational range that allows it to hit both land- and sea-based targets at a distance of 1,000km. The military said it will likely be mounted on nuclear submarines and surface ships, although a ground-based version of the weapon is also in development.

Tests of the missile began late last year, and it was reportedly tried out against a land-based target in January. The Defense Ministry expects it to come into service sometime in the next few years.

Moscow maintains that its ambitious hypersonic program was to assure deterrence after the US withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and rushed to deploy its ballistic missile shields, including those close to Russian borders. Russia’s advances in developing the top-notch weapons has made the US play catch-up for the first time in history, Putin has repeatedly said.



Zircon, Russia’s newest hypersonic anti-ship missile, will radically shift the balance of power on the high seas.

RT.com Mikhail Khodarenok
13 Oct, 2020 16:43

The Zircon hypersonic missile will reportedly be tested three more times by the end of the year. Fired from the Russian Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov, it will be expected to strike an ‘aircraft carrier’ type of naval target.

The first of the three planned tests is expected to take place in late October or early November.

Zircon hypersonic missiles are considered some of the most promising weapons against carrier battle groups – and no surprise there. Modern aircraft carriers are any navy’s greatest attack power at sea, and it’s the aircraft carriers that tip the scales of a military battle.

During the local conflicts of the past decades, aircraft carriers proved to be a very effective means of war. However, they are very expensive in terms of construction and maintenance, with a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier costing up to $13-14 billion. Currently, only nine countries can boast ships like this.

For instance, the US Navy has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that operate as part of a carrier strike group (one aircraft carrier accompanied by escort vessels, i.e. a battle group) or carrier strike force (several aircraft carriers accompanied by escort vessels). Aircraft carriers are the core of these operational formations. The US has 67 carrier squadrons and 731 jets.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has two aircraft carriers so far, the Liaoning (Type 001) and the Shandong (Type 001A). In 2018, China started building Type 003 aircraft carriers, with the ambitious goal of having six operational aircraft carriers by 2035. There is already a second shipyard in the country for building this type of vessel.

The UK’s Royal Navy boasts just two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, while France has only one, the Charles de Gaulle (R91). India has one cruiser-carrier of the 1143 class, INS Vikramaditya (R33). The second ship, INS Vikrant (R44), has been floated out of the building dry dock and is nearing completion. The Russian Navy has one heavy aircraft cruiser, the Admiral Kuznetsov. It’s currently docked for maintenance and repairs.

It is a well-known fact that after WWII, the Russian Navy primarily focused on dealing with the carrier strike groups (CSG) or multipurpose aircraft carrier groups of a potential enemy, because these battle groups pose a significant threat to key civilian and military infrastructure in coastal areas. Traditionally, ships, submarines, and naval missile-carrying aviation have been tasked with neutralizing a potential threat of this type.

The plan was for the Project 949A submarines, armed with P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles, and long-range bombers, such as the Tu-22M3 carrying X-22 anti-ship missiles (or the Tu-22M3M with X-32), to attack carriers of a potential enemy first.

However, many experts believe that due to the insufficient range of the weapons the Russian military currently has at its disposal, Russian ships, submarines, and aircraft would not be able to come close enough to launch the anti-ship missiles. Even if they hit the jackpot and get the opportunity to attack a carrier, its escort would easily shoot down all the incoming X-22/X-32 and P-700 missiles.

After the hypersonic cruise missile enters service and serial production begins, Russian ships and submarines will get the Zircon missiles, and this problem will be largely solved.

According to reports, the range of this missile may reach 1,000 kilometers. This factor alone significantly limits a potential enemy’s capability to organize effective anti-missile/anti-aircraft defense for its naval battle groups, such as CSGs or multipurpose aircraft carrier formations.

Another major advantage for the Russian Navy will be the extremely high cruising speed of the Zircon missile, exceeding Mach 8, coupled with its minuscule radar cross-section.

To give an example, currently, Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers are equipped with the SM-6 Block I/IA Dual I missile – and that is the most advanced surface-to-air guided missile available to the US Navy. It was designed to neutralize piloted and unmanned aircraft, low-altitude supersonic cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles’ reentry vehicles at the end of the trajectory. However, Raytheon, the company that manufactures this missile, says nothing about its capability to eliminate such targets as hypersonic cruise missiles, especially those that can maneuver mid-flight, while the Zircon is most likely capable of doing just that.

Moreover, given the very high cruise speed of this state-of-the-art Russian anti-ship missile (Mach 8 and over), a potential enemy’s surface-to-air or anti-missile systems will be rendered ineffective due to zero reaction time (the gap between the moment of threat detection and the launch of an intercepting missile). In other words, you don’t have any time to react, because your ship gets hit right after the missile is detected.

All in all, for the Russian Navy, having hypersonic cruise missiles will radically shift the balance of power on the high seas, as this new missile basically equals tactical nuclear weapons when it comes to combat performance. At this point, no potential enemy has any means of effectively neutralizing Russia’s hypersonic missiles.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia’s S-300 & S-400 Air Defence Systems | The Kalashnikova Show. Episode 7

RT Documentary
Oct 28, 2020



The S-300 & S-400 are Russia’s most advanced anti-aircraft defence systems. They are capable of intercepting any aerial target, including cruise and ballistic missiles, stealth aircraft, and drones. The S-300 and S-400 are fully automated and can engage dozens of targets at the same time. This episode of the Kalashnikova Show gives you a glimpse at these hi-tech systems in action.

[TsarSamuil]

Smerch: the missile with awesome power | The Kalashnikova Show. Episode 8

RT Documentary
Nov 3, 2020



The BM-30 Smerch multiple launch rocket system is an incredibly powerful missile. Some say it’s second only to nuclear arms as the most formidable weapon on the planet.

The Kalashnikova Show program with Anna Knishenko visited the military plant in the city of Tula where they produce all types of munitions for multiple launch rocket systems starting with the BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan, BM-30 Smerch and finishing up with the latest Tornado-G system.

[TsarSamuil]

Iskander tactical system. NATO's headache | The Kalashnikova Show. Episode 10.

RT Documentary
Nov 18, 2020



Iskander is a Russian tactical missile system capable of high-precision strikes at a range of 500km. Iskander missiles are conventional, but have characteristics that make them comparable to nuclear weapons. The Iskander-M can retarget in-flight and destroy other missile systems, air defences, airfields, and military bases. This makes it an effective deterrent, as well as a ‘headache’ for NATO.

[TsarSamuil]

Another successful test: Russia’s latest anti-ballistic missile system roars into the skies over Kazakhstan (VIDEO)

RT.com
26 Nov, 2020 09:03

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has successfully completed a test of its modernized anti-ballistic missile system (ABM).

In a newly released video, it can be seen shooting into the skies over Kazakhstan, launched from the leased Sary-Shagan testing range.

According to Lieutenant General Andrey Demin, commander of the 1st Army of Special Air and Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense of the Aerospace Forces, the testing “reliably confirmed the missile’s characteristics,” with the combat crew successfully hitting their simulated target.

The Ministry of Defense describes the missile as being designed to protect against both air and space attacks. It’s already in service with Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

Earlier this month, the US successfully tested an SM-3 ABM against a simulated intercontinental ballistic missile. Following the test, Moscow accused Washington of providing “false information” about its capabilities.

[TsarSamuil]

The Indomitable Russian Missile | The Kalashnikova Show. Episode 12

RT Documentary
Dec 2, 2020



Russia’s Hurricane (Uragan) multiple launch rocket system is one of the world’s most powerful artillery complexes. It requires just 20 seconds to launch a full salvo of 16 220mm missiles capable of hitting targets up to 35 kilometres away.

[TsarSamuil]

Занятия на новом виртуальном тренажере в костромском полку ВДВ.

Минобороны России
Dec 9, 2020



Виртуальный тренажер, максимально отражающий реальную боевую обстановку на поле боя, поступил на вооружение костромского артиллерийского полка ВДВ. Тренировочный комплекс позволяет не только воссоздать любую локацию, но и проверить точность всех математических расчетов, которые артиллеристы выполняют перед стрельбой.

На одном из первых занятий артиллеристы ВДВ вели стрельбу с закрытых огневых позиций, поражая цели различными средствами при меняющихся погодных условиях и времени суток.

[TsarSamuil]

WATCH: Russian cutting-edge nuclear sub fires barrage of FOUR intercontinental ballistic missiles.

RT.com
13 Dec, 2020 00:57

One of Russia’s state-of-the-art Borei class nuclear-powered submarines, Vladimir Monomakh, has test-fired a salvo of four intercontinental ballistic missiles for the first time ever, as part of a recent military drill.

Stunning footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday demonstrates the moment sailors on the K-551 Vladimir Monomakh submarine man their battle stations before launching a devastating payload of RSM-56 Bulava (‘Mace’) ballistic missiles towards their target some 5,000 kilometers away.

All four missiles fired from the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East reportedly hit their designated targets at a firing range in Arkhangelsk Oblast in the country’s north, just hundreds of kilometers away from Finland.

Even a single Bulava missile, capable of carrying 6 to 10 warheads with a nuclear payload equivalent to 100-150 kilotons each, could wreak havoc on any territory it hits. A sight of four such missiles launched at once provides a rare glimpse into how a nuclear apocalypse would probably unfold, should humanity ever engage in an all-out nuclear war.

The 170-meter long Vladimir Monomakh – one of Russia’s four newest Borei-class submarines – is designed to carry 16 Bulava missiles, besides torpedoes and Onyx and Kalibr cruise missiles. The fifth submarine called Knyaz Oleg is about to start trials and might join the Russian Navy in the coming year or two. Three more Borei-class submarines are currently under construction.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia successfully tests hypersonic Zircon missile, flying EIGHT TIMES the speed of sound to hit ground-based target (VIDEO)

RT.com
13 Dec, 2020 16:06

The Russian Navy has successfully tested the anti-ship hypersonic Zircon missile, firing it from a frigate in the White Sea. The new weapon has been called a game-changer that could radically shift the naval balance of power.

In a video published by the Ministry of Defense on Friday, a Zircon can be seen being launched from the Admiral Gorshkov, a modern warship commissioned in 2018. Aiming at the Chizha training ground, a shooting range in Arkhangelsk Region, it successfully flew the required 350km.

Flying at Mach 8 – eight times the speed of sound – it was the first test of the missile being aimed at a coastal target. In its two previous trials, the Zircon fired both times at sea targets.

In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that the Zircon can reach a speed of around Mach 9, with the ability to hit enemies more than 1,000km away. It is the world’s first hypersonic sea-based cruise missile, and is due to enter service with the navy once testing is completed.

On Saturday, a Russian nuclear submarine successfully completed testing of another missile, the Bulava, test-firing four for the first time ever. The Bulava is intended to be carried by the state-of-the-art Borel-class submarine, which can house 16 at the same time.