Moscow. January 4th. INTERFAX-AVN - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which was equipped with new Zircon hypersonic missiles, will go on a long-distance trip to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea."Today, the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov with hypersonic Zircon missiles on board is going on a long-distance sea voyage across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea," Shoigu said at a ceremony led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The minister said that the ship is capable of delivering targeted and powerful strikes against "the enemy at sea and on land."
He stated that the Zircon missiles can reach speeds of up to Mach 9 and overcome any air defense-missile defense system.
"The main efforts of the combat campaign will be focused on countering threats to Russia, on maintaining regional peace and stability jointly with friendly countries," Shoigu said. "During the exercises and trainings, the actions of the crew on the use of hypersonic weapons and long-range cruise missiles in various conditions of the situation will be practiced," the minister said.
The commander of the ship, Igor Krokhmal, said that the frigate had completed a full cycle of training before the cruise. "The ship is loaded with ammunition of missiles "Zircon", "Caliber", air defense, torpedo weapons and artillery. The crew of the ship is ready to perform combat service tasks," Krokhmal said at the ceremony, the footage of which was shown by the Rossiya 24 TV channel (VGTRK).
On December 11, Admiral Gorshkov arrived at the base in Severomorsk after maintenance at the Kronstadt Marine Plant, the military reported.
On December 21, at a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "At the beginning of January next year, the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov will enter combat service with the latest, sea-based hypersonic missile systems "Zircon" that have no analogues in the world.
In February 2019, in a message to the Federal Assembly, Putin said that the Zircon missile would be capable of hitting ground and surface targets at a range of over 1,000 kilometers at a speed of about Mach 9.
The Zircon is a new Russian hypersonic missile developed and manufactured by the Reutov NPO of Mechanical Engineering (part of the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation, KTRV).
According to official information, Admiral Gorshkov participated in the tests of the Zircon.
Also among the main strike weapons of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate are Kalibr cruise missiles (Almaz-Antey Concern of East Kazakhstan Region).
