A screen grab of footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service on Nov. 26, 2020 shows the launch of a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov.

 
Russia has test-launched the Tsirkon hypersonic missile from a warship for the first time, TASS news agency reported on Thursday.

The missile was fired in early January from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the Barents Sea against a ground target over 500 km away, TASS said, quoting two sources in the defense circle of the country's northwestern Federal District.

After the program of test-launches from the Admiral Gorshkov is over, the missile will be test-fired from nuclear-powered submarines, it added.

In February 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country was successfully developing the new weapon.

Putin said then that the Tsirkon missile fired from surface ships or submarines can reach a speed of approximately Mach 9 (about 11,000 kph) and strike a target more than 1,000 km away underwater or on the ground.