Putin: Russia will soon have new hypersonic, Mach 9 weapon

In the near future, Russia will get a hypersonic weapon with a maximum speed of Mach 9, said President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Russia Calling! Forum.

“We have now tested it successfully, and from the beginning of the year we will have a new sea-based hypersonic missile in service. Mach 9. The flight time for those who give orders will also be five minutes,” the president said in a statement to Interfax.

Earlier in November, Putin announced at a defense meeting in Sochi that the Russian Armed Forces would begin receiving Zircon hypersonic missiles in 2022. 

Hypersonic weapons a response to NATO

Russia started developing hypersonic weapons in response to NATO actions that jeopardised the security of the Russian Federation, President Vladimir Putin said during Russia Calling! Investment forum.

"Things have come to the point when anti-missile defense systems were deployed in Poland and Romania. The launchers that have been deployed there, Mk-41, can also be armed with Tomahawks strike systems. This creates threats for us. Well, this is such an obvious fact. What happened in response to all our persuasions and requests not to do this? What we can see now. In response, we were forced, I want to stress this out, we were forced to start developing hypersonic weapons. This is our response," said Putin.