Putin on the move: Russia tests two new deadly weapons that can destroy Western satellites and US cities
Russia has come up with a massive military muscle-flexing exercise by successfully testing two lethal weapons that could pose a serious threat to its Western opponents, including the US. While it has tested a new missile which is capable of destroying Western satellites, it has also come up with a second weapon for the purpose of using on America’s cities if a nuclear war breaks out.
Russian missile that can hit US satellites
The first weapon is a new 9,000 miles per hour “star wars” ballistic missile that can destroy American satellites in space. The rocket was launched from the Sary-Shagan test site in Kazakhstan and destroyed a dummy target, the Kremlin confirmed. Footage released by Russia’s defense ministry showed the weapon taking off in a ball of fire. “The new missile … has reliably confirmed its characteristics in a series of tests,” Andrey Dyomin, commander of the 1st air and missile defence army of Russian aerospace forces, reportedly claimed.
“At the Sary-Shagan testing range (Republic of Kazakhstan), a combat crew of the air and missile defense troops of the Aerospace Forces successfully carried out a regular test launch of a new missile of the Russian missile defense system,” Russia’s Sputnik quoted the defense ministry as saying. However, details about the missile’s precise performance in the test or its target were not released yet.
The West expressed anxiety over Russia’s military plans as in July, the US Space Command warned that Putin’s push to use weapons in space puts the “US and Allied space assets at serious risk”. Russia is known to be developing the long-range extraterrestrial interceptor missile called 14Ts033 Nudol. The two-stage 14Ts033 may be used on the new A-235 missile defence system, which is being developed to shield Moscow’s air space.
The A-234 can reach Mach 12, with a 620 mile range, according to experts. It was only in October that the Russian defense ministry reported about testing a new missile defense system at the test site in Kazakhstan, a part of the former USSR.
Russian missile that can wipe out American cities
Putin’s country also claimed to have successfully test-launched its new-age 6,000 mph hypersonic Zircon or Tsirkon missile. This weapon has been identified by Russia’s state-controlled media as Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out American cities in the case of a nuclear war. The Russian strongman has termed the Mach 8 Zircon as “truly unparalleled … in the world”.
The defense ministry confirmed that the hypersonic missile has been test-launched at least three times this year. The state-run TASS news agency reported that like the previous test-launch which was held on Putin’s 69th birthday on October 7, a Russian Navy frigate fired the Zircon missile that hit its target in the waters of northwestern Russia. The ministry released a 20-second video of the latest launch showing the missile’s night-time launch from the Northern Fleet’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the White Sea.
Admiral Gorshkov had previously test-fired the Zircon missile in January from the Barents Sea toward a ground target in the northern Urals located more than 500 kilometers to the east. Officials claimed the missile hit the target located 450 kilometres away in the Barents Sea successfully. The defense ministry said the missile traveled at a speed of 8 Mach or 9878 kilometers per hour and took just over minutes to reach the target. The Zircon program took off in 2011 and entered the active-testing stage in 2015.