Russian frigate maneuvers with China and South Africa

The Russian government agency TASS reported that the frigate Admiral Gorshkov of the Soviet Navy, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, will take part in joint exercises with the navies of China and South Africa next February. Moscow says these missiles are nine times faster than the speed of sound and have a range of more than 1,000 km. This is the first official mention of the participation of the frigate “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov”, which is armed with Zircon missiles. Russia says the missiles travel at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. South Africa’s National Defense Forces said the exercise will take place from February 17 to 27 near the coastal city of Durban and Richards Bay and is designed to “strengthen the already flourishing relationship between South Africa, Russia and China.” In a statement, the Defense Forces added that the exercise would be the second among the three countries in South Africa, following the maneuver in 2019. The Gorshkov frigate has been exercising in the Norwegian Sea this month after being sent into the Atlantic Ocean by President Vladimir Putin as a signal to the West that Russia will not back down from the war in Ukraine. Russia sees the weapons as a way to penetrate the increasingly sophisticated US missile defenses, which Putin has warned could one day shoot down its nuclear missiles.