# 3M22 Zircon by NPO Mashinostroyeniya

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/aviation/zircon
Frontier: [Aviation](https://technooptimist.io/aviation.md) · Field: Hypersonic missiles · Company: [NPO Mashinostroyeniya](https://technooptimist.io/companies/npo-mashinostroyeniya.md)
Stage: Deploy (4 of 5: Research → Proto → Pilot → Deploy → Scaling)
Updated: last update 2026-08-31, facts checked 2026-10-11
Goal: Give Russia's navy a missile fast enough to hit an aircraft carrier or other large ship before its defences can react, closing hundreds of kilometres in a few minutes.
Status: In service on ships; used against Kyiv since Feb 2024, where some were shot down

## Milestones

| Status | Milestone | Date | Slip |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Done | First test firing | 3 Jun 2017 |   |
| Done | First launch from frigate Admiral Gorshkov | Jan 2020 |   |
| Done | First submarine launch, from Severodvinsk | 4 Oct 2021 |   |
| Done | Deployed on Admiral Gorshkov | Jan 2023 |   |
| Done | First identified combat use, against Kyiv | 7 Feb 2024 |   |

## Most important updates

- **31 Aug 2026**: Ukrainian intelligence dossier suggests Zircon is a solid-rocket missile, not a scramjet. Ukraine's military intelligence published a breakdown of Zircon listing a 3L2211 solid-fuel rocket motor from NPO Iskra and no air-breathing engine, and wreckage analysis found what looks like a second-stage solid motor. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/ukrainian-intelligence-dossier-suggests-zircon-is-a-solid-rocket-c0b039f1.md) · [original source](https://www.twz.com/sea/russias-zircon-may-not-be-a-hypersonic-cruise-missile-after-all))
- **1 Apr 2024**: Kyiv says Russia fired five Zircon missiles at the city in the first three months of 2024. Kyiv's city military administration said Russia launched five 3M22 Zircon missiles against Kyiv in the first quarter of 2024, including in a 25 March attack. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/kyiv-says-russia-fired-five-zircon-missiles-at-the-city-in-the-first-adbc0684.md) · [original source](https://www.kyivindependent.com/authorities-russia-used-5-zircon-hypersonic-missiles-against-kyiv-since-start-of-2024))
- **12 Feb 2024**: Kyiv forensic institute says Russia struck Kyiv with a Zircon missile on 7 February. Oleksandr Ruvin, director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Examinations, said markings on wreckage showed Russia used a 3M22 Zircon in the 7 February 2024 attack on Kyiv, the first identified combat use of the missile. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/kyiv-forensic-institute-says-russia-struck-kyiv-with-a-zircon-missile-b4f15997.md) · [original source](https://babel.ua/en/news/103830-on-february-7-russian-troops-hit-kyiv-with-a-zircon-missile-the-expertise-has-preliminary-conclusions))

## Current obstacles

- **Interceptable in the dive**: Ukraine says Patriot and SAMP/T can stop it in its terminal phase, where it slows down.
- **Foreign parts**: Wreckage contained Western-made chips, showing the missile still relies on imported electronics despite sanctions.

## Physics limits

- **Plasma blinds the seeker**: At hypersonic speed the air around the nose ionises and heats, which blocks radio and radar signals, so the missile must slow to see its target.
- **Thin air or heavy drag**: Staying fast means flying high where air is thin; diving into thick air at the end costs speed exactly when defenders get their shot.

## How it works

### Launch: Vertical launch from ship or truck

Fired from vertical cells on frigates and submarines, and against Ukraine apparently from modified Bastion coastal launchers.

### Propulsion: Rocket, not scramjet?

Long described as a scramjet; Ukraine's intelligence lists a two-stage solid rocket motor from NPO Iskra instead.

### Flight: High and fast

It climbs to around 20-28 km, where thin air lets it hold hypersonic speed, then dives on the target.

### Seeker: Radar finds the ship

A radar seeker (3B222, per Ukrainian intelligence) picks out the target ship in the final phase.

## Spec sheet

| Spec | 3M22 Zircon | Provenance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Speed (Russian claim) | Mach 8-9 | reported |
| Speed (Ukrainian assessment) | ~Mach 5.5, near Mach 7.5 at the end | estimated |
| Length | ~9 m | reported |
| Warhead (Ukrainian intel) | ~120 kg (3G22) | estimated |
| Flight altitude | ~28 km | reported |

Provenance: reported = stated by the company; estimated = our estimate; sample = a sample figure.

## About NPO Mashinostroyeniya

NPO Mashinostroyeniya is Russia's main designer of anti-ship cruise missiles, founded in 1944 and based in Reutov near Moscow. It is part of the state-owned Tactical Missiles Corporation and built the P-800 Oniks and the Zircon hypersonic missile.

- Prime contractor for Zircon; Ukrainian intelligence lists 70 enterprises behind the missile.
- Partner in BrahMos Aerospace with India; under US sanctions since 2014.

- Founded: 1944
- Headquarters: RU
- Status: subsidiary (Tactical Missiles Corporation)
- Partners, customers, investors: Russian Ministry of Defence (customer); NPO Iskra (supplier)

Company page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/npo-mashinostroyeniya.md

## Related programs

Everything in Aviation: https://technooptimist.io/aviation.md

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