Ukraine dissects Russia’s Zircon missile as Moscow leans on harder-to-intercept weapons

Russia has been leaning harder on difficult-to-intercept missiles like the Zircon, pictured here during early flight testing, in its war with Ukraine.

AP Ukraine's military intelligence published a detailed breakdown of Russia's Zircon missile.

The assessment reveals its components, speed, manufacturers, and foreign-made parts.

Russia has leaned more on hard-to-intercept missiles as Ukraine has gotten better at stopping other threats.

Ukraine's main military intelligence agency published a breakdown of Russia's Zircon missile, a weapon Moscow has increasingly employed in its intensifying strikes.

Russia has been investing heavily in advancing its missile arsenal, upgrading systems and making them harder for air defenses to intercept.

That reaction to Ukrainian air-defense wins now represents a major challenge as interceptors run low.

On Monday, Ukraine's GUR, the country's military intelligence agency, shared details on Russia's 3M22 Zircon missile , including its components and production.

It also provided details on the main manufacturer NPO Mashinostroyeniya, a Russian defense company that is part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation, and foreign parts used in the weapon, which included some made by US companies.

The disclosure also named more than 70 companies and dozens of people involved in its production.

In its new assessment, the GUR referred to Zircon as a ballistic missile, a departure from Russia's description of it as a hypersonic cruise missile.

New details published by Ukraine describe it as a two-stage ballistic missile featuring a solid-fuel booster and a solid-fuel sustainer for flight.

Cruise missiles and ballistic missiles differ in how they fly and reach their targets.

Ballistic missiles typically climb on a ballistic trajectory before descending at high speed toward their targets, while cruise missiles are jet-propelled and fly lower within the atmosphere.