Russian frigate armed with hypersonic Zircon missiles will take part in joint drills in South Africa in February, TASS says.
A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons will participate in workouts with the Chinese language and South African navies in February, based on Russia’s state-owned TASS information company.
The report on Monday was the primary official point out of the participation by the Russian frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov.
The frigate is armed with Zircon missiles, which fly at 9 occasions the velocity of sound and have a spread of greater than 1,000km (620 miles).
The missiles type the centrepiece of Russia’s hypersonic arsenal, together with the Avangard glide car that entered fight obligation in 2019.
“‘Admiral Gorshkov’ … will go to the logistic assist level in Syria’s Tartus, after which participate in joint naval workouts with the Chinese language and South African navies,” TASS stated in its report, citing an unidentified defence supply.
The South African Nationwide Defence Power has stated the drills will run from February 17-26 close to the port cities of Durban and Richards Bay on South Africa’s east coast.
It stated on Thursday that the joint train goals “to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China”.
The train would be the second involving the three international locations in South Africa, after a drill in 2019, the defence drive added.
The Gorshkov held workouts within the Norwegian Sea earlier this month after President Vladimir Putin despatched it to the Atlantic Ocean in a sign to the West that Russia wouldn’t again down over the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin has beforehand stated the frigate and its Zircon missiles have “no analogues on this planet”.
The Russian president sees the weapons as a technique to pierce the USA’s more and more refined missile defences.
Russia, the US and China are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons, seen as a technique to achieve an edge over any adversary due to their velocity and their manoeuvrability, options which make them tougher to detect.
