Its main strengths are:
- its hard to shoot down or react to Mach 8 to 9 speed at high altitude and plunging
- reported manoeuvrability, and
Its main weaknesses are:
- its limited range (maybe only 400km from a submarine, though 1,000 from an aircraft), and
- light warhead (maybe only 200kg).
In the above Youtube (South Front, March 6, 2019):
- 4 mins 50 secs in - it can be vertically launched from Russian Oscar and Yasen submarines and
[may be small enough to be 533mm or 650mm torpedo tube launched from Akula or Kilo
submarines.]
- 5m 22s - could be launched from Russian submarines to hit US command and control facilities on
the US Atlantic coast. But given Zircon's limited range [assuming US SOSUS, RAP/FDS and
ASW platforms on the Atlantic coast] this would put the Russian submarines in danger of
“detection and destruction”.
See a transcript of the South Front Youtube here https://southfront.org/russias-zircon-hypersonic-missile-challenges-us-naval-dominance/
Russia may be in a joint venture to help India develop a Zircon-looking BrahMos-2 "HSTDV".
Russian Zircon vs Kinzhal hypersonic missiles (Artwork, table courtesy IDA Strategic Intelligence).
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Pete