Putin also claimed this weapon had “no analogues in any country in the world” and would “reliably protect Russia from potential external threats.” In October 2021, Putin announced that Russia had overtaken the U.S. in the hypersonic weapons race, one which began when the U.S. began working on its own Conventional Prompt Global Strike capability which aimed to hit an enemy target anywhere in the world within one hour. Along with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which entered combat duty in 2019, the Zircon will play a central role in Russia's hypersonic arsenal. TASS reported that Russia is also armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, weapons which have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles). Russia has previously used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles in Ukraine which were used in the early months of the war to destroy an underground missile warehouse and aviation ammunition base in the western part of Ukraine.