The alliance which has been militarily dominated by the United States was set up in the post-World War II atmosphere of anxiety, largely to block Soviet expansion into Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and subsequent demise of the Warsaw Pact, therefore, left Nato with no obvious purpose.
As NATO members are meeting in London to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the orgainsation and settle their differences in order to make new commitments, further forge a common front for the alliance, Russian Putin at the same time commence series of sessions on Monday December 2nd with the Russian Navy
While NATO looks more disorganized than ever as dispute between French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump has exposed major rifts in the military alliance , President Putin promised that the Russian navy will receive over 480 items of armament and military hardware this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the hypersonic weapons in the Fleet are becoming extremely important to maintain strategic stability. The Russian leader also stressed the need to continue the deliveries of destroyers and universal amphibious assault ships to the Navy.
Putin, addressing the meeting’s participants in his series with the Russian NAVY said this largely depends on the planned delivery of frigates and submarines upgraded for employing Tsirkon hypersonic missiles to the Navy’s combat structure," the Russian leader said while opening the 14th series of meetings on defense.
The Tsirkon hypersonic missile is designed to destroy enemy surface ships at a range of up to 1000 kilometers. The Tsirkon scramjet-powered cruise missile is said to travel at a speed making it impossible to be intercepted by any known means.
Tsirkon hypersonic missile
In his State-of-the-Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the work on the Tsirkon hypersonic missile was proceeding as scheduled. As the Russian leader said, the Tsirkon is capable of developing a speed of Mach 9 and its striking range capability can exceed 1,000 km.
The Russian leader also said that the Tsirkon could strike both naval and ground targets.
Experts say the Tsirkon hypersonic missile cannot be intercepted by any existing air defense capabilities.
Tsirkon is capable of being launched from ships and traveling at nine times the speed of sound, or roughly 6,900 miles per hour.
According to RT. “Once at its target, Tsirkon can detonate the nuclear payload, devastating a valuable enemy asset like a naval base or an aircraft carrier group.”
A source in the defense industry told TASS in late 2018 that more than ten Tsirkon launches had been carried out against naval targets to ranges of several hundred kilometers since the start of the missile’s trials. According to media reports, the missile firings from a sea platform were conducted in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Russian warships and submarines currently armed with Kalibr or Oniks cruise missiles are expected to carry Tsirkon hypersonic weapons.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on November 8 there were plans to deploy Tsirkon missiles on the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov currently undergoing modernization and on the Project 949A multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarine Irkutsk.
Before that, Russian President Putin said that the corvette Gremyashchiy might be armed with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles.
With the latest development, Russian Navy expects to arm all the new and modernized surface ships and nuclear-powered submarines with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles. This task requires achieving coordinated work of the government, the military command, the defense industry and research organizations, the president stressed.
"I request you to report in detail today about how the work on ships of new projects and their armament is proceeding," Putin said, addressing the meeting’s participants.
With additional report from Taas, CNN, BBC
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