[19] In April 2017, Russian state media, TASS, reported that Zircon had reached a speed of Mach 8 (6,100 mph; 9,800 km/h; 2,700 m/s) during a flight test.

[22] On February 20, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the missile can accelerate up to Mach 9 and destroy both sea and land targets within 1,000 km (540 nmi; 620 mi).

[24] In early January 2020, Zircon was first test-launched from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the Barents Sea, and reportedely hit a ground target in the Northern Urals, exceeding the distance of 500 km.

[26] On December 11, 2020, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the successful test of a missile launched from Admiral Gorshkov in the White Sea, hitting a ground target 350 km away in the Arkhangelsk Region.

The flight tests of the missile from a coastal mount and a surface ship carrier were reportedly completed as of late September 2021 with over 10 launches performed.

On October 4, 2021, the Ministry of Defence of Russia announced the successful test of a missile launched from a nuclear submarine for the first time from a surfaced position.

Low-quality video footage released by the ministry showed the missile shooting upwards from a submarine, its glare lighting up the night sky and illuminating the water's surface.

[33] A Tsirkon hypersonic missile test-launched from the Northern Fleet's frigate Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov struck a naval target in the White Sea with a direct hit, Russia's Defense Ministry reported on November 18, 2021.

On July 31, 2022, speaking in St Petersburg on Russia's Naval Day, President Vladimir Putin announced that the Black Sea Fleet would be equipped with Zircon anti-ship hypersonic cruise missiles "in the coming months".

On November 3, 2022, TASS announced the design and manufacture of a prototype mobile ground vehicle launcher for the Tsirkon as part of a coastal defense missile system.

On December 23, 2022, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced the reception by the Admiral Gorshkov frigate of a batch of Zircon missiles.

[7] Russian media sources claim that its speed and precision would make it more lethal to large targets such as aircraft carriers.

[57] According to the Royal United Services Institute, kinetic energy is the single best predictor of lethality against large targets (more so than warhead size), and thus the high speed of missile would seem to make it an optimal vector of attack against larger vessels.

[68] According to Russian state media sources, both missiles hit their intended targets which were reported to be a SBU quarter and Zhuliany airport.

[71] Major Illia Yevlash, a spokesman for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, claimed that Patriot and SAMP/T systems are capable of destroying the Zircon in the terminal phase when the missile is expected to slow to speeds around Mach 4.5;[72][73] which Western defense analysts such as former Royal Navy Commander Tom Sharpe agree is likely correct based on analysis of similar behavior from the Kinzhal missile.

[74] The CEO of the joint Indo-Russian BrahMos programme, Atul Rane, stated in 2022 that a future BrahMos-II missile for India will likely have similar characteristics to the Zircon.