Hypersonisk trening Russland, Sør Afrika og Kina - Stars & Stripes

 

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Russian warship armed with hypersonic missiles to train with Chinese, S. African navies

By 

SETH ROBSON

STARS AND STRIPES • January 24, 2023

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The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov is scheduled to train with the South African and Chinese navies off South Africa's coast, Feb. 17-27, 2023. (Russian Ministry of Defence)

A Russian frigate, armed with hypersonic missiles, will exercise off the African coast with the Chinese and South African navies, according to a report by a Russian news agency Monday.

The South African armed forces and the Russian and Chinese navies will engage in "a multinational maritime exercise" from Feb. 17-27 off South Africa's east coast near the cities of Durban and Richards Bay, the South African Department of Defence announced Thursday.

The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov, carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, will resupply at the Syrian port of Tartus before joining the drills, according to a report by Russian state news agency TASS that quoted an unnamed military-diplomatic source.

The missiles fly at nine times the speed of sound, with a range of more than 620 miles. They form the backbone of its hypersonic arsenal, along with the Avangard glide vehicle that entered service in 2019, according to a Reuters report Monday.

The exercise, aimed at strengthening “already flourishing” relations between the three nations, will be the second involving the countries in South Africa, after a drill in 2019, according to the South African statement.

The exercise is scheduled a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. South Africa abstained in a United Nations vote last year condemning the invasion.

During a joint meeting in Pretoria Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor defended the naval drills, with Lavrov saying Moscow does not want any so-called “scandals” regarding the exercises.

Pandor, who posed alongside Lavrov while smiling and shaking hands, claimed it is normal practice for all countries to conduct military exercises with “friends worldwide.”

“There should be no compulsion on any country, that it should conduct them with any other partner. It’s part of a natural course of relations between countries,” she added, without explicitly referencing criticism leveled at South Africa for its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion.