Putin boasted that the ship was carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, long-range weapons that journey greater than 5 instances the pace of sound and are more durable to detect and intercept.
“It has no analogues in any country in the world,” Putin mentioned, in keeping with TASS.
“I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country.”
Russia examined the Zircon system in late 2021, firing from the Admiral Gorshkov within the White Sea and hitting a naval goal greater than 400 kilometres away, in keeping with reviews on the time.
The present mission could be its first deployment in a possible fight state of affairs.
“The main efforts during the campaign will be focused on countering Russia’s threats, maintaining regional peace, and stability together with friendly countries,” Shoigu mentioned within the TASS report.
And whether or not the Zircon missile could possibly be dropped at bear in that warfare is unsure.
If it really works as marketed by the Russians, it’s a fearsome weapon.
The US-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance says the Zircon is “a manoeuvring anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile” with a variety of someplace between 500 and 1000 kilometres.
The alliance says its pace has been put at Mach 8, or virtually 9900km/h.
Hypersonic is outlined as any pace above Mach 5 (6173km/h).
“If that information is accurate, the Zircon missile would be the fastest in the world, making it nearly impossible to defend against due to its speed alone,” the alliance says on its web site.
The website additionally factors to the missile’s plasma cloud as one other “valuable” characteristic.
“During flight, the missile is completely covered by a plasma cloud that absorbs any rays of radio frequencies and makes the missile invisible to radars. This allows the missile to remain undetected on its way to the target,” it says.
Add to that the Zircon’s skill to change its flight path and it turns into a particularly formidable weapon.
But utilizing the Zircon missiles aboard the Admiral Gorshkov towards targets in Ukraine is logistically difficult.
From a Russian perspective, the optimum firing vary for the weapons could be from the Black Sea, to the south of Ukraine.
But to get there, the Russian warship must cross via the Turkish-controlled Bosphorus Strait, and Ankara has mentioned for the reason that early phases of the warfare in Ukraine that it might not enable such entry for overseas naval vessels.
While the Admiral Gorshkov might theoretically fireplace on Ukraine from the northern reaches of the Mediterranean, the flight path to Ukraine would go over NATO international locations, one thing that will be seen as a serious escalation of Russian aggression.
TASS mentioned the Gorshkov can also be armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, weapons which have a variety of as much as 2500 kilometres, in keeping with the CSIS Missile Defense Project.
But these weapons, even with their longer vary, would face the identical issues reaching Ukraine because the Zircons.
Still, the deployment of the Admiral Gorshkov gave Putin one thing constructive to speak about amid giant Russian losses towards Ukraine, together with one in every of its most prized warships, the Moskva, which was sunk final April in what Ukraine says was an assault by its missile forces.
Analyst Carl Schuster mentioned the deployment makes a political assertion for Putin as a lot as a navy one.
“He’s trying to show Russia remains a global player despite the costs and international condemnation of his assault on Ukraine,” Schuster mentioned.
“He can show his domestic audiences that the international reaction is not as effective as stated in the Western media and that Russia still has friends in key areas,” Schuster mentioned.
“Internationally, he is signalling that sanctions have not affected the Russian navy’s ability to operate and that it remains a global maritime power.”
Putin praised his navy upon the deployment, in keeping with TASS.
“This is great joint work, which ended with a good, expected result,” Putin mentioned.
“We will continue to develop the combat potential of the Armed Forces, make advanced models of weapons and equipment that will guard Russia’s security in the coming decades. This is a promising weapon,” Putin mentioned within the TASS report.
The photos that outlined Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022
