The hypersonic weapon was fired from a naval ship in the White Sea, north of Russia, this week to celebrate President Vladimir Putin’s 68th birthday.
The Russian military reported the successful test launch on Wednesday, marking a major shift in escalating nuclear tensions with the West.
Known as Zircon, the nuke is said to travel faster than the speed of sound, making it too quick for US and UK antimissile systems.
Speaking to Putin via a video call, Russian General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said the test launch was carried out Tuesday from the Admiral Groshkov frigate.
The missile successfully hit a target 450 kilometres away in the Barents Sea, Gerasimov said. It took just 270 seconds to get there.
Putin praised the successful test as a big event for Russia.
“Equipping our Armed Forces the army and the navy with the latest, truly unparalleled weapon systems will certainly ensure the defence capability of our country in the long term,” the president said.
The Zircon – or Tsirkon – has been identified by Moscow’s state-controlled TV as Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out American cities in the event of nuclear war.
Putin talked about the coming deployment of the new hypersonic missile for the Russian navy in 2019.
He boasted that it’s capable of flying at eight times the speed of sound – roughly 9878km/h – and will have a range of 1000 kilometres.
