The creator of the “Zircon” missiles used to attack Ukraine has died in Russia
6 April 06:12
Alexander Leonov, chairman and chief designer of the military-industrial corporation “NPO Mashinostroyenie,” has died at the age of 75. The cause of death has not been specified. Located in Reutov, “NPO Mashinostroyenie” is part of the “Tactical Missile Weapons” corporation and is one of the key enterprises in Russia’s rocket and space industry. Leonov took over as head in 2007 following the death of former CEO Herbert Efremov.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" citing Russian propaganda media.
Under his leadership and with his direct involvement, the hypersonic anti-ship missile “Zircon” and combat equipment for the “Avangard” intercontinental ballistic missiles were developed. In addition, Leonov participated in the creation and adoption of the Granit, Vulcan, and Bastion systems equipped with the supersonic Onyx missile. Under his leadership, two small Earth remote sensing satellites, the “Kondor-E,” were launched into orbit, and the Russian-Indian “BrahMos” project was further developed.
In late January, Leonov reported a sharp increase in Zircon production by the end of 2025.
“Everything we had to do—at least everything related to the supply of particularly important systems—we have fully fulfilled all our plans; we did not miss a single deadline; everything was completed on time,” he assured.
In 2024, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that the “Zircon” had been used to strike Ukraine. He claimed that this missile “has no analogues in any country in the world.” According to the developers, the “Zircon” is capable of reaching a speed of Mach 9 and has an effective firing range of up to 1,000 km.
For his services to the state, Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of Labor and Honored Machine Builder of Russia. He was also a Doctor of Technical Sciences, a professor, and combined his work at the National Research University of Mechanical Engineering with the position of head of the Department of Aerospace Systems at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
Development of the Zircon missile began in 2011, and testing started in 2016. In August 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the start of serial production. The missile is launched from ships and submarines, and, according to some reports, can be adapted for coastal launchers. The 3K22 complex with the Zircon missile was adopted into service in January 2023.
Putin regularly boasts about Russian missile developments. At the same time, Russia is imprisoning scientists engaged in hypersonic research. Among others, the FSB has opened criminal cases for “treason” against employees at the Institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, Dmitry Kolker, Valery Zvegintsev, and Vladislav Galkin. The first three were accused of passing secret data to China. Dmitry Kolker was arrested right in the hospital while suffering from stage IV cancer and died three days after being taken into custody. Shiplyuk received 15 years in a maximum-security prison, Maslov—14.
In addition to them, physicist Anatoly Gubanov, who headed a department at the Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), was sentenced to 12 years. According to the investigation, he passed on classified information about the HEXAFLY-INT hypersonic civilian aircraft to one of the European states; in addition to Russia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands participated in its development. Gubanov’s subordinate, MIPT professor and Doctor of Technical Sciences Valery Golubkin, received a similar sentence on the same charge.
