Russian warship to join drills with China, South Africa navies

Russian frigate armed with hypersonic Zircon missiles will take part in joint drills in South Africa in February, TASS says.

Russian frigate named 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' moored within the Neva River through the Navy Day celebration in St Petersburg, Russia, final July [File: Dmitri Lovetsky/ AP]

A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons will participate in workouts with the Chinese language and South African navies in February, in line with 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 instances the pace of sound and have a variety of greater than 1,000km (620 miles).

The missiles kind the centrepiece of Russia’s hypersonic arsenal, together with the Avangard glide automobile that entered fight responsibility 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 mentioned in its report, citing an unidentified defence supply.

The South African Nationwide Defence Power has mentioned 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 mentioned 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 nations 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 mentioned the frigate and its Zircon missiles have “no analogues on this planet”.

The Russian president sees the weapons as a solution to pierce the US’s more and more subtle missile defences.

Russia, the US and China are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons, seen as a solution to acquire an edge over any adversary due to their pace and their manoeuvrability, options which make them tougher to detect.