A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons will take part in exercises with the Chinese and South African navies in February, according to Russian media.
\nThe report on Monday was the first official mention of the participation by the Russian frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov.
\nThe frigate is armed with Zircon missiles, which fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of more than 1,000km (620 miles).
\nThe missiles form the centrepiece of Russia\u2019s hypersonic arsenal, along with the Avangard glide vehicle that entered combat duty in 2019.
\nThe South African National Defence Force has said the drills will run from February 17-26 near the port cities of Durban and Richards Bay on South Africa\u2019s east coast.
\nIt said on Thursday that the joint exercise aims \u201cto strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China\u201d.
\nThe exercise will be the second involving the three countries in South Africa, after a drill in 2019, the defence force added.
\nThe Gorshkov held exercises in the Norwegian Sea earlier this month after President Vladimir Putin sent it to the Atlantic Ocean in a signal to the West that Russia would not back down over the war in Ukraine.
\nPutin has previously said the frigate and its Zircon missiles have \u201cno analogues in the world\u201d.
\nThe Russian president sees the weapons as a way to pierce the United States\u2019s increasingly sophisticated missile defences.
\nRussia, the US and China are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons, seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary because of their speed and their manoeuvrability, features which make them harder to detect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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