The Russians have halted development of the Zmeyevik ballistic missile, which is supposed to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers and land-based carriers of Dark Eagle hypersonic weapons

The Kremlin-controlled propaganda publication TASS reports that the development of the "aircraft carrier killer" has been discontinued. This is about the anti-ship ballistic missile "Zmeyevik" with hypersonic combat equipment.

Here's What We Know

The Russians position the "Zmeyevik" as an analogue of the Chinese complex with the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (pictured below). The Russian weapon system was created to defeat US aircraft carriers and the new Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon.

It is likely that the Russians began experiencing problems while developing the anti-ship ballistic missile. For example, due to a shortage of Western components, access to which is restricted by US sanctions.

The official version is different, though. Russian propagandists claim that the US cannot test the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile, so there is no point in urgently creating the Serpentine missile system. The money saved will be invested in modernising the weapon, which is now being used in the war against Ukraine.

As for the US Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon, the US Army has indeed failed to conduct the first launch tests. Due to this, the achievement of combat readiness is postponed from September to the end of this year.

Source: TASS