Russian military tests hypersonic cruise missile

Footage from Russia’s military shows its latest successful test launch of a state-of-the-art cruise missile from a warship in the White Sea off Russia’s northern coast on Monday.

The Zircon hypersonic missile travelled at around seven times the speed of sound before hitting a ground target more than 350 kilometres (217 miles) away on the coast of the Barents Sea, news agencies quoted the ministry as saying.

The first test took place on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday in October. He has touted the missile as the best in the world, saying it would have a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).