ALEXEY DANICHEV / AFP
A Russian warship equipped with hypersonic missiles has crossed the English Channel, Russian press agencies report. (Photo of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and the Russian Defense Minister on the frigate “Admiral Golovko”)
INTERNATIONAL – Presence of Moscow off the coast of France. Russian warship equipped with hypersonic cruise missiles « Zircon » crossed the Channel and is currently in the Atlantic, press agencies reported this Tuesday, November 12 Tass et Ria novosti.
According to the Northern Fleet press release cited by these Russian agencies, the frigate « Amiral Golovko » carried out exercises off the French and British coasts simulating drone attacks from the air and sea and the fight against terrorism.
Ensuring “Russian naval presence”
The aim of this training is first to deter those who would like to attack the building, explains BFM Business. Its deployment thousands of kilometers from Russia also makes it possible to “show the Russian flag and ensure Russian naval presence in operationally important areas of the World Ocean”specifies the press release from the Northern Fleet.
Departing from Severomorsk on November 2, the ship is equipped with missiles « Zircon »a weapon capable of reaching speeds of Mach 9 with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, indicates West France. In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the mass production of Zircons in order to improve Russia's strategic nuclear capabilities, specifies Euronews.
Russia sees these hypersonic missiles as a way to break through increasingly sophisticated US missile defenses that Putin says could one day shoot down Russian nuclear missiles, the news agency details Reuters.
If a Russian frigate with Russian missiles has already been seen off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in January 2023, this is the first trip of« Amiral Golovko » as far from Moscow since its commissioning in 2020.
Also see on HuffPost :
Reading this content may result in cookies being placed by the third-party operator who hosts it. Taking into account the choices you have expressed regarding the deposit of cookies, we have blocked the display of this content. If you wish to access it, you must accept the “Third Party Content” category of cookies by clicking on the button below.
Play Video
France
