A new kind of zircon

"Russia is losing and will lose. The only fear we have right now, is Russia will do something very stupid, which will take the world down with them."      

A Cubic Zirconia, better known as the mineral which gives us the Zircon. Some call it a "poor man's diamond". At first glance, it does looks a bit like a diamond. But it is way different. And so is the the price. But who cares about jewelry? I want to discuss a new kind of Zircon. The kind which can kill without notice. And this Zircon, is the name of a hypersonic missile which is now carried by some Russian Navy ships. And one is headed for the UK. To do what? Unknown.

The Russians are very proud of their Zircon missile. It is "unstoppable" (their words). How so? Once launched, this missile can achieve speeds up to 7,000mph. Some, including Putin, have made some not so veiled threats about using this missile on a NATO country - or us. One of Putin's henchmen, said the Russians might parks one of their Zircon equipped ships right off the coast of Washington, DC. Is that like holding a gun to our heads? Are we supposed to duck and cover or cower?

Here is the problem with hypersonic missiles like the Zircon. It travels so fast at low altitudes, that it forms a plasma cloud in front of the missile. This plasma cloud can absorb incoming radar waves, which would make this missile all but invisible to our radar. Or, even if our Aegis ships could detect an incoming hypersonic missile, it is doubtful our Standard Missiles could catch up with one of them. 

Hypersonic missiles are definitely a game changer. But guess what? We may have been late to the party in developing our own hypersonic, but we do have them. China has them, Russia has them, and we have them. So what does this mean? It means warfare continues to change. Will we be able to come up with counter measures for the hypersonics? Maybe. But we still have our triad nuclear threat which is one heck of a deterrent.

This morning, the news was a new threat for a NATO ally. France. Once of Putin's henchmen said maybe Russia could obliterate France. Destroy them. Why? France continues to support Ukraine, which really gets under Russia's skin. Well, boo hoo.

Russia can show off its Satan II missile or it's new hypersonics. That will not change the outrageous war crimes it has committed in Ukraine. Russia is now a rogue nation, run by outlaws. Russian people are suffering from this war, just like Ukrainian people are suffering. 

Russia is losing and will lose. The only fear we have right now, is Russia will do something very stupid, which will take the world down with them.