Shortly before the end of the year, the guided missile frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" (type ship, project 22350, 135 metres, 4,500 tonnes) allegedly left Severomorsk, the Arctic home port of the Russian Northern Fleet off Murmansk on Kola Bay, with a load of the nuclear-capable hypersonic missile "Zircon". According to information from Moscow, it is to act as a command platform and lead a convoy towards the Mediterranean from January - no doubt also as a show of force against the West. However, no details were given about planned port calls or supply stops.
Successor to the Krivak class
The "Gorshkov" had already carried out various test firings of the "Zircon", which flies at nine times the speed of sound (11,265 kmh), in the Barents Sea at the beginning of 2022, including a shot at a land target over 540 nautical miles away (maximum range 1,000 kilometres). She then underwent a material maintenance period at the Kronstadt naval base off Saint Petersburg, where her construction yard Severnaya is located southwest of the city centre. After the keel was laid in 2006 and the ship was launched in 2010, it took a further 8 years before she was handed over to the navy and put into service. She was the first new-build frigate after the Soviet era and understandably had to overcome teething problems.
Hypersonic weapons Zircon and Avangard
The president and military leadership are now boasting about the availability of a weapon against which there is (theoretically) no defence whatsoever due to its controllability despite its extreme speed, especially on final approach: "The launch and approach of this missile can only be detected when the impact occurs," is the phrase used in Moscow. The strategic advantage of this globally unique weapon carrier is the choice of conventional or nuclear armament and the fact that all major decision-making centres in the western world can be reached from international waters within minutes without being able to adequately protect themselves or defend themselves.
Maritime sabre-rattling at the start of the year
The threat backdrop for the second act of the Ukraine war is thus set! But it's only one ship so far - that doesn't make a summer, according to the Pentagon. Given the Kremlin's ruined credibility, the disastrous situation of the sanctioned Russian defence industry and doubts about the seriousness of the Zircon tests - and presumably only a very small number of hypersonic missiles available on board - this is understandable. Especially when Moscow is currently relying heavily on Iranian kamikaze drone weapons technology for air strikes in Ukraine.
Video with run-out music - a parade offshoot of the "Admiral Gorshkov" in the Arctic Ocean with "Admiral Ushakov" (474, Sovremenny, Project 956A) as a pier neighbour.
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Moin,
In the future, more "Tsirkon" missiles will be produced in the Russian Federation and can be deployed on units that have the "3S14" vertical launchers installed on board.
This is currently (in addition to the frigate "Admiral flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov" ["Адмирал флота Советского Союза Горшков"]) the sister ship "Admiral flota Kasatonov" ("Адмирал флота Касатонов"), which is already in fleet service; the frigate "Admiral Golovko" ("Адмирал Головкол") has been on sea trials in the Baltic Sea since November 2022 and the Project 885/885M nuclear submarines of the "Severodvinsk" ("Северодвинск") class will also carry these hypersonic missiles 3M22 "Tsirkon" ("Циркон" [NATO code: SS-N-33]).
Then there will be "more summer" despite all the prophecies of doom from the American Pentagon.
Hello Mr Engel, thank you very much for your comment on the article. Of course, the Russian Navy traditionally organises a firework display of keel layings, launches and commissioning at the turn of the year. For the next few days, I have planned to provide readers with further maritime news from the Russian Federation in instalments anyway. I can't do it all at once, there's too much to report! All the best for the New Year. Axel Stephenson
Moin,
In addition to this voyage, it should also be noted that the frigate "Admiral flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov" ("Адмирал флота Советского Союза Горшков") is accompanied and supplied by the medium-sized ocean-going tanker "Kama" ("Кама" [project REF-675]) of the Northern Fleet on this leg of the voyage.