Russian warship to participate in joint exercises with Chinese and South African vessels

A ship belonging to its Navy of Russia and carries ultrasonics cruise missiles new generation is expected to participate in February in joint high schools with Chinese and South African vessels.

The news was broadcast today, Monday (23/1) by the Russian state news agency TASS.

This is the first official reference to the participation in the joint exercises of the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Garskov, which carries Zircon missiles.

These missiles travel at nine times the speed of sound and have an effective range of more than 1,000 kilometers, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The highlights of Russia’s new supersonic missile arsenal are featured, along with the Avangard glide vehicle, which entered service in 2019.

“Admiral Garskov will proceed to the logistical support point in Tartus, Syria, and then participate in joint naval exercises with ships of China and South Africa,” the news agency said, citing an unnamed img close to the defense ministry.

Last Thursday, its armed forces South Africa They said the exercises, which will be held from February 17 to 27 near Durban Harbor and Richards Bay, are intended to “strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China.”

This is the second, as the Athens News Agency points out, a joint naval exercise of the three countries in South African waters, after the one held in 2019, the South African army clarified.

The Admiral Garskov held exercises in the sea off Norway earlier this month as the Russian president sent it to the Atlantic Ocean, a move the West took as a sign it has no intention of backing down from the war in Ukraine.

Russia sees its hypersonic weapons as a means of piercing increasingly sophisticated US missile defense systems. Mr Putin has warned that US systems may one day be able to shoot down Russian nuclear-tipped missiles, challenging the balance of power.

Russia, China and the US have for years been in a race to develop hypersonic weapons, seen as a way to gain an advantage over any adversary because of their speed and difficulty in detecting them.