MOSCOW, January 25 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov conducted exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. From the ship, they worked out a strike with a hypersonic Zircon missile at a naval target at a distance of 900 kilometers. About why this event is so important for the Russian "defense industry", — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Electronic start-up
"Admiral Gorshkov" is now somewhere in the western part of the Atlantic — in the zone that the NATO bloc considers its own. The frigate went on a long voyage at the beginning of the month, the president and the Minister of Defense personally saw him off for combat service.
Frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean. A frame from the video Image source: © Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense
The ship's movement through neutral waters was widely covered by Western media. And the British Navy even officially announced that they were monitoring the vessel.
Of course, the practice shooting aroused unprecedented interest in Western intelligence. Therefore, the crew of the Admiral Gorshkov, in order not to show too much, carried out electronic launches instead of combat ones — "in computer simulation mode."
The West fears the frigate for a reason. This is the first naval carrier of hypersonic anti-ship missiles "Zircon", whose capabilities in NATO are well aware of. The head of the Strategic Command of the US Armed Forces, Charles Richard, admitted that the existing system of ground-based and space-based sensors simply would not track missiles. He stressed that while these weapons are at sea, any alliance ship is vulnerable.
NATO threat
Most of the tactical and technical characteristics of the Zircon cruise missile are classified. But something is known. The speed is a record, more than ten thousand kilometers per hour, or about nine Mach. The range is a thousand kilometers. Flight on the marching section — at an altitude of 30-40 kilometers, where air resistance is low. The mass of the warhead is about 450 kilograms.
The ship's sams of Western countries are designed for subsonic and supersonic missiles and are absolutely powerless before hypersound. And the long firing range will allow the Russian fleet to destroy surface and ground targets with virtually impunity, even without entering the affected area.
Launch of the Zircon hypersonic missile from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the Barents Sea Image source: © Photo : Russian Ministry of Defense
An important point: "Zircon" is able to launch from the same launchers as the P-800 Onyx and Kalibr. Theoretically, small rocket ships of the Buyan-M and Karakurt projects can also be carriers. Thus, even small pennants will become a threat to the aircraft carrier. Hitting one warhead below the waterline is enough for the floating airfield to roll and fail.
A new automated control system (ACS), recently tested at large-scale exercises of the Northern Fleet, will direct the strike complex at enemy ships. According to Izvestia, citing sources in the military department, two crews of anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft Tu-142 transmitted information about a conditional enemy and guided missiles from a distance of hundreds of kilometers.
At the same time, the system independently identified the most important targets and selected the appropriate weapon. In addition to "Zircons", ships under the control of ACS can use cruise systems of previous generations, including "Yakhont", "Vulkan" and "Caliber".
Universal media
The Admiral Gorshkov frigate of Project 22350 is the most technologically advanced in the Russian Navy. Almost all novelties were tested on the lead ship with a displacement of 5,400 tons — from radio-electronic equipment to anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery installations.
Frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" Image source: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Lviv
"He is unique," said Vladimir Maltsev, chairman of the All—Russian Fleet Support Movement. — There are no equal weapons in the world. Many ships of a higher class are much less armed. The frigate is capable of solving combat missions anywhere in the World Ocean and single-handedly counteract an entire detachment of pennants. Let me remind you that there are other cruise missiles on it, this is a universal fighter."
For cruise missiles — 16 cells of the ZS14 firing complex. All control systems are digital. In fact, it is a floating computer operating almost without human intervention. The new on-board information and control system connects all equipment to the network, and the radio-electronic complex of surface and underwater lighting allows you to detect the enemy at a great distance.
Frigates reach speeds of up to 30 knots, autonomous navigation — about a month. Now the Navy has two ships of this type, two more will be completed this year. In addition, a modernized 22350M project is under development. The total displacement of the updated frigates will grow to seven thousand tons, which will allow them to dominate the sea.