Nearly two years into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation remains tense. Since January 1 this year, the Russian army's air strikes on Ukraine's major cities have become more frequent and intense. On the morning of February 7, Russia launched a missile attack of unprecedented scale that shocked the international community. About ten Tu-95MS bombers carried cruise missiles, while Tu-22M3 bombers launched X-22 missiles and carried out heavy attacks on several important cities in Ukraine. Among them, Kyiv and Kharkiv suffered heavy ballistic missile strikes, and the Ukrainian Air Force reported that at least 38 people were injured in the capital Kyiv. In a high-rise building in the Horosyevsky district, 10 people, including a pregnant woman, were rushed to the hospital in a worrying situation. According to the latest report from the military administration of the city of Kyiv, four people have been tragically killed and 38 injured as a result of rockets fired by Russian troops in Kyiv. 
In this Russian attack, the wreckage of a missile has attracted widespread attention. Information published by the Ukrainian military on the wreckage of the missile with the corresponding markings suggests that the newest Russian hypersonic missile "Zircon" was involved in real combat for the first time. This is also the third missile to make its debut in the Russia-Ukraine war, following the other two. In addition to the "Zircon", the -35 (3M44 "Progressive") heavy anti-ship missile, which has been in service since the 60s of the last century, and the cutting-edge "Grom-E1" air-to-surface missile also made its battlefield debut. This fully demonstrates that at a critical moment, Russia, no matter whether it is new or old, will not hesitate to pull it to the battlefield as long as it can be used. 
The 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile is an advanced missile developed by Russia, and its development background can be traced back to the military competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. In order not to be overtaken by the United States, the Soviet Union at that time began work on the development of a new generation of supersonic cruise missiles. After many years of hard work, the "Zircon" missile finally came out and attracted wide attention from the international community with its powerful performance. The Zircon missile is capable of destroying all types of surface ships and ground targets and cannot be intercepted by missile defense systems or air defense systems. Its maximum firing range reaches 1000 km, and the warhead weight can reach 400 kg. In addition, it can be launched from frigates and submarines, and is extremely flexible and combat-capable. 
The launch process of the Zircon missile is relatively complex and requires several stages. First, it uses a cold firing method to eject the canister from a vertical launcher. Then, the small rocket on the side thrust on the hood is activated to adjust the attitude to ensure that the missile can fly stably. After completing these steps, the fairing on the head is thrown away by the ignition of the small rocket to expose the body of the missile. Finally, the booster rocket engine is activated to accelerate the missile to the speed required for hypersonic flight. When the missile speed exceeds Mach 4 5, the scramjet engine is finally activated, bringing its flight speed to the maximum. As far as is known, the "Zircon" missile has been successfully tested several times and has achieved satisfactory results. During test launches in October 2020 and December 2021, it successfully hit its intended target, demonstrating its hypersonic cruise capabilities and precision strike capabilities. Since 2022, the Zircon missile has been frequently tested at full range, which has verified its reliability. These successful test launches and tests laid a solid foundation for the application of the "Zircon" missile in real combat. 
Despite the fact that the Zircon missile was originally designed to strike targets at sea, especially enemy ships, however, in the context of the escalating Russian-Ukrainian war, the Russian military seems to have made significant adjustments to the tactics of its use. Today, the missile has been given a new mission - to strike ground targets. This transformation is not unique in the field of anti-ship missiles, such as the Russian military's Kh-35, Kh-22 and other anti-ship missiles, and even Ukraine's "Neptune" missiles, have been widely used to perform similar tasks. These original anti-ship missiles have now been transformed into the role of cruise missiles to some extent. 
The most striking feature of the Zircon missile, compared with other anti-ship missiles or conventional cruise missiles, is its amazing speed. It flies at speeds of up to Mach 9, which means that it is capable of quickly approaching and destroying targets at breakneck speeds, causing extreme pressure and threat to the enemy. It is worth mentioning that Ukraine currently lacks effective means of interception of Kh-3 anti-ship missiles with a speed of Mach 22, let alone in the face of "Zircon" missiles that fly faster than the "Dagger". This extremely high speed, combined with the 300-400 kg heavy warhead carried by the missile, makes the "Zircon" missile far superior in destructive power to ordinary subsonic cruise missiles. And its range of 1,000 kilometers allows it to cover a wide battlefield area, and it is undoubtedly an extremely difficult challenge for the Ukrainian army to accurately locate and destroy the launch position of the "Zircon" missile. 
At the moment, there are still some doubts about the launch platform of the "Zircon" missile. The known platforms on which this hypersonic missile can be launched include, inter alia, frigates and submarines of the Russian Navy. But in November 2022, Russia** revealed an important piece of information, saying that it had created a prototype of a mobile launch vehicle for the shore defense missile system that can carry the "Zircon" hypersonic missile. According to a Russian military source, the shore-based hypersonic missile launcher is similar in design to the K-340P launcher equipped with Onyx supersonic anti-ship missiles, both with a four-axle design. Each launcher can carry two Zircon missiles, demonstrating a strong combat potential. However, due to secrecy reasons, no footage or details of the shore-based version of the Zircon launch vehicle have been made public. Therefore, there is still some speculation and uncertainty about whether the "Zircon" missile that flew to Kyiv this time was launched from a land base. But in any case, the participation of the Zircon missile in the war has undoubtedly brought new variables and challenges to the existing air defense system of Ukraine. February** Dynamic Incentive Program