Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, will take part in joint exercises with the Chinese and South African navies, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The exercises are scheduled to take place early next month off the coast of South Africa.
The Admiral Gorshkov was deployed January 4 and performed air defense drills in the Norwegian Sea before heading to the Atlantic Ocean, according to state news agency TASS.
It is armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, and a successful test was carried out on Wednesday, according to the ship’s commander.
“Today a shipborne combat training exercise was held to practice delivering a missile strike against an enemy surface target. The Tsirkon [Zircon] hypersonic weapon was employed to a distance of over 900 km,” said Captain 1st Rank Igor Krokhmal in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
“In our scenario, the electronic launch and the work by the shipborne combat team confirmed the missile system’s designed characteristics demonstrated during preliminary and state trials,” he said, adding that the electronic missile launch objective was fully achieved.
The Admiral Gorshkov is a multi-purpose frigate that joined the Russian navy in 2018, according to TASS.
The warship was actively involved in testing Russia’s “breakthrough” Zircon hypersonic missile, designed and produced by the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building, part of Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, according to TASS.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is currently on a visit to Africa. He was in South Africa on Monday and is due to visit Angola today.
