Russian Frigate Tests Nearly 600-mile Missile Strike Capacity

By Staff, Agencies

Russia’s Defense Minister said on Wednesday that frigate Admiral Gorshkov successfully tested Zircon anti-ship hypersonic missiles that have a range of over 560 miles.

“The crew of the frigate “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov,” operating in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean, conducted an exercise on the use of hypersonic missile weapons using computer simulation,” the ministry said in a statement, cited by Russian state media.

According to the statement, the frigate practiced “launching a missile strike with a Zircon hypersonic missile at a sea target simulating an enemy ship and located at a distance of more than 900 km.”

Admiral Gorshkov joined the Russian Navy in 2018. Its main strike weapon is the Kalibr-NK missile system. On January 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the launch of the frigate that headed on a voyage across the Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean.

Putin said that the Zircon hypersonic complex is "unique" and "invincible" as it can reach a speed of nearly 6,000 miles per hour. Earlier on Monday, Moscow announced that the frigate will participate in joint exercises with the navies of China and South Africa in February.