The missile represents a further development of the HELA developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya that was on display at the 1995 MAKS air show. Prototypes were test-launched from a Tu-22M3 bomber in 2012–2013. Launches from a ground-based platform followed in 2015, with first success achieved in 2016. In April 2017, it was reported Zircon had reached a speed of during a flight test. Zircon was again test-fired on 3 June 2017, almost a year earlier than had been announced by Russian officials. In November 2017, Colonel GeneralViktor Bondarev stated that the missile was already in service. Another flight test reportedly occurred on 10 December 2018, during which the missile demonstrated to attain a speed of Mach 8. On 20 February 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated the missile is capable of accelerating up to Mach 9 and destroying both sea and land targets within distance. By the year's end, on 24 December 2019, Vladimir Putin stated that Zircon's land-based version is in development. According to the commander in chief of the Russian NavyNikolai Yevmenov, as of January 2020, Zircon was still in testing phase and despite the overall positive evaluation of the test program, still suffered from the "childhood diseases". Modernized frigates are expected to be the first platform to receive the hypersonic missile, and the tests are to be continued in parallel with the Navy's armament with the Kalibr cruise missile. Yevmenov further stated Zircon is expected to enter service "in the coming years". In early January 2020, Zircon was first test-launched from the frigate in the Barents Sea, and successfully hit a ground target in the Northern Urals, exceeding the distance of 500 km.
Design
Zircon is believed to be a maneuvering, winged hypersonic cruise missile with a lift-generating center body. A booster stage with solid-fuel engines accelerates it to supersonic speeds, after which a scramjet motor with liquid-fuel in the second stage accelerates it to hypersonic speeds. The missile's range is estimated to be at low level, and up to in a semi-ballistic trajectory; average range is around. According to Russian media, the longest possible range is and for this purpose a new fuel was created. In the 2020 test, Ministry of Defense of the Russia claimed the missile's range is estimated to 1,000 - 2,000 km Zircon can travel at a speed of. Such high speeds would likely create a cloud of plasma around the missile, absorbing any radio waves and making the missile virtually invisible to radars. This has led to concerns that it could penetrate existing naval defense systems. Zircon exchanges information in flight and can be controlled by commands if necessary. Zircon will be first deployed with the s Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy after 2020. The ships will have their P-700 Granitanti-ship missiles replaced with the 3S-14 universal VLS cells capable of carrying the Oniks, Kalibr and Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles; each vessel is to be equipped with 72 such missiles. After completion of their refit, the ships could carry 40–80 anti-ship cruise missiles of different types. Other platforms are likely to include Russian Navy's and frigates, as well as, and corvettes, mainly due to the installation of the compatible 3S-14 vertical launchers.
Export
A version for export should have its range limited under 300 km in compliance with the MTCR, or up to 400 km.
