Time： 2024-08-18
韋克威科技
Who will become the true 'carrier killer'?
Who will become the true 'carrier killer'?
Recently, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a multi-year, multi billion dollar contract with the Machinery Manufacturing Research and Production Group to provide the Navy with the "Zircon" hypersonic missile. The first batch of missiles will be installed next year and 2022. This news has delighted the entire Russian Navy.
The West should be restless with sleep and food. Because it can be asserted that Russian ships are intimidating and capable of launching "zircons" at enemies, which is well known to everyone.At present, Russia's potential enemies do not have similar weapons, not only do they not have such equipment, but they also lack new weapons to confront them.This has sparked heated discussions among Western experts. Commander Richard of the US Strategic Command made a statement on Russia's "zircon". The Strategic Command oversees the United States' strategic nuclear forces, anti missile forces, and space forces, which are responsible for countering potential enemy assaults and implementing powerful counterattacks on D-Day at K.The Strategic Command is a crucial institution that analyzes the specific ways to resist the enemy.Richard's face showed a worried expression when he spoke at the space defense seminar. He highly praised Russia's outstanding achievements in the field of hypersonic weapons and acknowledged that the "Zircon" will be a headache for NATO.Richard's viewpoint is convincing because he confirms that the US military has almost no equipment capable of efficiently countering Russia's hypersonic weapons. But Moscow should not be too happy too early, because all of this is based solely on theoretical calculations. If 'Zircon' could really hit the aircraft carrier 'Bush', it would definitely spark imagination.At present, Russia has released a video of the launch of "Zircon", which can be considered a dream come true, but it is currently only at the theoretical level.The new missile should indeed put an end to the outdated ships that have existed for over a century. Russia possesses this capability and wants to showcase outstanding achievements to the world. On the one hand, the idea is indeed good, and on the other hand, there is no need to play all the trump cards now.Now almost everyone (true experts, keyboard warriors, experts from the Pentagon, and ordinary enthusiasts) is talking about "zircon". The United States is highly concerned about whether Russia will gain a significant advantage in future maritime conflicts?Russian experts are confident that Russia will gain an advantage. Richard pointed out that it is uncertain whether existing land-based and space-based sensors can efficiently detect and track "zircons". This issue has indeed made NATO experts very uneasy. If they cannot develop equipment to counter it in the near future, NATO ships will be at risk in the face of Russian missiles.Pentagon Press Secretary Kilby pointed out that "zircon" is a "potential destabilizing factor". If there are unstable factors, they usually pose a threat.However, hypersonic missiles without nuclear warheads should not be an unstable factor. Zircon is just a super fast anti-ship missile. Of course, it's easy to equip Zircon with a nuclear warhead. The current weight of 400 kilograms of warheads allows for this. But what is the purpose? A very sufficient reason is needed to carry out the above operation. For example, the United States deploys missiles in Europe or once again includes Russia's neighboring countries in NATO.In recent years, the global strategic security system has been being undermined. The treaty to contain relevant countries and establish strategic balance of power is a thing of the past. In this way, some countries can develop strategic offensive weapons without any restrictions.It should be pointed out that the United States played a major role in the formation of the above situation: it withdrew from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and only extended the Strategic Offensive Weapons-3 Treaty at the last minute (valid until 2026). They confidently tested the latest model of "Tomahawk", which is definitely not a defensive weapon, and test fired a new land-based ballistic missile.Russia's' zircon 'is a powerful countermeasure with no other choice.Now the US military is facing difficulties in discovery and interception. I remember someone once said, life is like a play.Today, the West does not have any weapons that can efficiently intercept 'Zircon'. The NATO Navy has advanced and efficient air defense missile systems with outstanding performance, which have even been tested for a long time. But all of these 'Sky Guardian Sparrow', 'Sea Sparrow', and other RIM were designed to intercept supersonic missiles at most. Missiles with hypersonic speeds reaching 6-8 Mach are definitely a difficult "hard nut" to intercept.What the United States can do now is to spare no effort in using its military system to accelerate the development of equipment that can counter the "Zircon".The officers and soldiers of NATO naval vessels will be anxious because the "Zircon" is not only incredibly fast, but also has a long range. It is possible to launch attacks on American ships from outside their kill zone. How do American sailors assess their safety and weaknesses?Lastly, what worries the United States the most is that the "Zircon" can be launched from the launch devices of the "Agate" anti-ship missile and the "Caliber" general-purpose cruise missile. This greatly expands the list of ships using "zircon". This is different from the P-700 "granite".The concept of 'carrier killer' is currently ambiguous. Previously, the term 'carrier killer' referred to 949A 'Antai' class submarines or 1144 'Sea Eagle' class heavy cruisers equipped with 'granite', which is now obsolete. Today, "Zircon" can be deployed on most of the Russian Navy's ships, from heavy cruisers such as "Peter the Great" and "Admiral Naximov" to missile boats such as "Rogue-M" and "Red Ribbon Spider".The situation will undergo earth shattering changes. The enemy can easily track the Peter the Great, but tracking small missile boats is a completely different matter.There is also the 22350 class "Gorshkov" frigate between them, which can launch "Zircon" submarines such as "Caliber" carrier, "God of the North Wind", "Yasen", "Warsaw Man", and "Dogfish B.In this way, the 'carrier killer' has become the 'flowing red flag' of Russian naval vessels. It depends on whose launch device is loaded with "zircon".At present, it is not possible to accurately predict the effectiveness of "Zircon", but it is clear that with 400 kilograms of explosives and kinetic energy accelerating to 8-10 Mach, if it hits an aircraft carrier, the consequences can be imagined. Of course, there are still practical application issues.It is obvious that the United States has not only started developing missiles to counter the "Zircon" missile, but is also developing its own hypersonic weapons. Military giants such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Moog have joined the arms race. In May 2021, the new engine of the first stage of hypersonic missiles was successfully tested.It can be predicted that the above-mentioned famous groups will eventually develop new achievements. But it is unknown whether it will be completed before the end of 2023 as claimed. The expected speed of the new missile is slightly slower than that of the Zircon - about 5 Mach.In short, a new arms race has begun. There are no restrictions in this regard. There is only one thing - Russia is currently leading in this field.
Source: Frontiers of Maritime Defense
