Russia announced on Monday that it had effectively tested for the first time a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a submarine, a weapon that President Vladimir Putin hailed as part of an unprecedented new generation of weapons systems.

The Defense Ministry said the Severodvinsk submarine fired the missile into the Barents Sea, effectively hitting the selected target.

The launch took place in the evening, a video released through the ministry showed. Russia tested the launch of the Tsirkon missile from a warship in July.

Putin announced a diversity of new hypersonic weapons in 2018 in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they can hit the most anywhere in the world and escape a U. S. -built missile shield.