MOSCOW, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia successfully test-fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile in the Arctic on Tuesday, Chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday.

"The frigate Admiral Gorshkov deployed in the White Sea, for the first time, fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile at a sea target in the Barents Sea ... The missile destroyed the target in a direct hit," Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin at an online meeting.

The missile covered a distance of 450 km with the maximum altitude of its trajectory at 28 km, he said, adding that the flight lasted 4.5 minutes and the missile reached a hypersonic speed of over Mach 8.

Following the state tests, the Tsirkon system will be deployed on Russian submarines and surface ships, Gerasimov said.

The Tsirkon project and the successful test flight of the missile are "a major event not only for the armed forces but also for the nation as a whole," Putin said.

Supplying the Russian military with the most advanced armaments that "have no analogues in the world" will ensure national defense for a long time to come, he said. Enditem

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