CNN
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A Russian Admiral Gorshkov frigate armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles docked in Cape Town, South Africa. Joint military exercises with South Africa, Russia and Chinathe Russian consulate in Cape Town said on Monday.
“The battleship will arrive at the Mother City on its way to Durban, where it will jointly join [South Africa]-[China]-[Russia] Naval exercises scheduled for February 17-27. Said on Twitter.
The exercise comes as Russia approaches its first anniversary. Invasion of UkraineIt is also an opportunity to show that Moscow is not alone on the world stage, despite international condemnation of its aggression.
In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor defended the exercise after naval drills. meeting in pretoria When Lavrov visited South Africa for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Russia’s state news agency TASS quoted a source close to the Russian defense industry as saying that the Admiral Gorshkov frigate “during joint exercises with the South African and Chinese navies, the Zircon (Zircon) hypersonic We will be conducting missile launch training.”
South Africa said the joint maritime exercise will involve about 350 South African Defense Force personnel, along with their Russian and Chinese counterparts. A previous exercise between the three navies took place in 2019.
It is the first time that the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, has been included in the training. First test late 2021.
Long-range weapons travel more than five times the speed of sound and are difficult to detect and intercept.
According to Tass, the frigate was actively involved in testing missiles designed and built by the Institute of Mechanical Engineering Research and Production, part of the Russian Tactical Missile Company.
