Exercises of Russia, China and South Africa with the participation of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate will start in the Indian OceanMOSCOW, Feb 17 – RIA Novosti.
The second joint naval exercises of the Russian Navy, the PLA Navy and the South African Navy will start on Friday in the southern part of the Indian Ocean near the African coast, the South African Defense Ministry said.
The exercise called Exercise MOSI will be held from February 17 to 27 in the area of the cities of Durban and Richards Bay in the province of Kwazulu-Natal.
The first such exercises took place in the waters of South Africa in November 2019.
From Russia, a detachment of ships of the Northern Fleet is involved as part of the medium tanker "Kama" and the newest frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov", which is on the first long-range cruise with the hypersonic missile system "Zircon" on board.
According to the South African National Defense Forces, more than 350 South African servicemen from various branches of the armed forces and units will take part in the exercises, who will exchange operational skills and knowledge with Russian and Chinese colleagues. During the exercises, it is planned to work out the interaction of marine systems, the fight against piracy, maritime cooperation and improve joint response measures to natural disasters.
As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa Naledi Pandor told RIA Novosti, South Africa, taking part in joint exercises with Russia, seeks to raise the level of training of its military to participate in peacekeeping missions and protect the country. South African Ambassador to Moscow Mzuvukile Maketuka expressed hope that joint naval exercises with the Russian Federation and China will be continued on an annual basis.
At the same time, the representative of the US Embassy in South Africa, David Feldman, reported that the US is concerned about South Africa's plans to conduct joint naval exercises with Russia and China. In turn, South African Defense Minister Thandi Modise stated that the United States is putting pressure on African countries that maintain relations with Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that he did not understand why military exercises together with Chinese and South African partners could cause a "mixed reaction" in society, since the US exercises off the coast of China, for example, do not cause anyone questions.
According to the head of the Center for the Study of Strategies and Peace of the Diplomatic Academy of the People's Republic of China Su Hao, the joint exercises of South Africa, Russia and China cause concern to the United States, as they are afraid of losing control in the Indian Ocean - Washington considers any close cooperation of China in the territories along the "One Belt, One Road", and especially along the Maritime Silk Road, a threat..
The campaign of "Admiral Gorshkov"
The frigate of the Northern Fleet of project 22350 "Admiral Gorshkov" left Severomorsk on a long-range combat trip across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea on January 4. For the first time, the ship makes a combat trip with the Zircon hypersonic missile system on board. The commander of the ship, Captain of the first rank Igor Krokhmal, added that in addition to the Zircons, there are also Kalibr cruise missiles on board the frigate.
During the campaign, the ships of the Northern Fleet passed the English Channel, completed the tasks of a long-distance campaign in the North Atlantic, worked out various shipboard tasks. According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, during the campaign the ship will work out launches of hypersonic missiles "Zircon".
In the campaign, together with the frigate, the medium tanker "Kama" follows. His crew on January 31 in the central part of the Atlantic received a distress signal from a yacht, from which Russian sailors rescued a French citizen Lucas Monteu and his dog. On February 10, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Monteu would go ashore in Cape Town, the port closest to the scene of the incident along the route of the ships of the Northern Fleet.
On the eve of the start of the exercises, Admiral Gorshkov arrived in Cape Town, from where he left for joint maneuvers on Wednesday.
