Sunday 16 May 2021

"Admiral Gorshkov" goes to the White Sea for the final stages of testing new missile weapons

shipspotting.com / Alex Guikalov



Admiral Gorshkov Photo from the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Moscow. 12 May. Interfax-AVN - The Northern Fleet frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" is making a transition from Murmansk to Severodvinsk to participate in the final stages of testing promising missile weapons, the press service of the fleet said on Wednesday.

      The press service of the Northern Fleet did not specify which missiles the Admiral Gorshkov would test. Meanwhile, it was officially reported that this ship is participating in the tests of the new Russian Zircon hypersonic missile.

     "Yesterday the ship sailed into the Barents Sea and headed east along the coast of the Kola Peninsula. The frigate is expected to arrive at the White Sea naval base tomorrow," the fleet said in a statement.

     "In Severodvinsk, the ship will take part in the final stages of testing a promising missile weapon," the message says.

     In December, November and October 2020, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on successful test launches of the Zircon from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov.

     On 23 April this year, the Northern Fleet announced that the lead frigate of Project 22350, Admiral Gorshkov, will complete testing of hypersonic weapons this year. The ships of this project will be the first regular carriers of such weapons, the Navy said.

     Serial deliveries of the Zircon missile to the Russian Armed Forces are scheduled for 2022, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on January 29.

     "The positive results allow us to proceed to the next stage of development - launching from submarine carriers, complete state tests in 2021 and begin serial deliveries starting in 2022," Krivoruchko said then, noting the successful launches of Zircon from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov ".

     On December 17, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference that work on the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile was almost completed.

     In February 2019, in a message to the Federal Assembly, Putin announced that the Zircon missile would be capable of hitting ground and surface targets at a distance of over 1,000 kilometers at a speed of about Mach 9.

     On December 2, 2019, the President of the Russian Federation stated that the strengthening of the capabilities of the Russian Navy in the coming years largely depends on the arrival of frigates and submarines, modified for the use of Zircons, into the combat composition.

     In December 2019, Putin said that work was underway on the Zircon hypersonic missile, not only sea-based, but also land-based.

     In March 2020, the commander of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseev, announced the tests of hypersonic weapons by the fleet's submarines.


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