Russia launched an experimental hypersonic missile Wednesday, in honor of President Vladimir Putin’s birthday, hitting a target ship 280 miles away in the Barents Sea, Reuters reports.
The Tsirkon (Zircon, in English) hypersonic cruise missile can reportedly reach speeds of 6,800 miles per hour, or Mach 9. It was launched by the frigate Admiral Gorshkov located in the White Sea.
“This is a big event not only for the life of the armed forces, but also for all of Russia, for the whole country,” Putin told Valery Gerasimov, chief of the army’s general staff.
US and Russian negotiators met in Helsinki Monday to discuss a nuclear arms treaty. The Barents Sea is just north of Finland.
President Trump claims that the United States is developing weapons “no one can think of” and he’s mentioned the development of a missile that he calls the “super dooper” missile, which Trump claimed is “17 faster than what we have now.”