On January 4, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, assigned to the Northern Fleet, under the supervision of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sailed from the Severomorsk Naval Base for a mission in the Atlantic Ocean. [et, peut-être, en Méditerranée et dans l’océan Indien]with 3M22 “Zirkon” missiles [ou Tsirkon] on board.
As a reminder, Zirkon is part of the “invincible” weapons unveiled by the Kremlin chief in March 2018, a hypersonic missile that, according to available data, could travel 500-1000 km at a speed of Mach 9 [neuf fois la vitesse du son, ndlr], after an altitude between 30 and 40 km. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov was chosen to conduct her qualification tests. Note that it will also equip Russian attack submarines.
“As I said, there is no equivalent in any country in the world,” Mr Putin commented as the ship departed. “I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from possible external threats. This will help protect our country’s national interests,” he added.
Apparently, the frigate Gorshkov, accompanied by the oil tanker Kama, is closely monitored by the NATO countries from which it departs, even if it remains in international waters. Therefore, the Royal Norwegian Navy kept an eye on it using P3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft as it passed the Norwegian Sea. And among the photos taken on this occasion, we see that the letter “Z”, symbol of Russian operations in Ukraine, was painted on one of the ship’s islands.
#Russian Frigate Admiral Gorshkov sails south along the coast of #Norway. She is legally in international waters – but as always, we are closely monitoring all movements and will continue to do so as long as the frigate is in our territories. The photo was taken today by P-3 Orion. #WeareNATO pic.twitter.com/TRQvE6qlQQ
—Norwegian Armed Forces | Forsvaret (@Forsvaret_no) January 6, 2023
During her passage in the Norwegian Sea, the frigate conducted an “exercise aimed at repelling a possible enemy air attack […] under difficult hydro-meteorological conditions” and using “a computer simulation of the tactical situation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
As the Russian ship then continued on its way to the North Sea and the English Channel, the Royal Navy took over the leadership of the Royal Norwegian Navy and deployed the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland with its Merlin helicopter. And on January 12, the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov” arrived in the Atlantic.
His “crew of […] will soon continue conducting missions in certain areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Since leaving the main base of the Northern Fleet, Severomorsk, the ship has already traveled more than 2,000 nautical miles,” Moscow said. And since the Russian ship’s route was away from the French coast, the French Navy naturally took over from its British counterpart.
Indeed, on January 14, the Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic [ATLANT] indicated that the multi-mission frigate would be placed under NATO command [FREMM] Brittany was to accompany the Russian ship in the Bay of Biscay until it left French jurisdiction. An Atlantic 2 sea reconnaissance aircraft was also requested.
Under command @NATOthe FREMM Bretagne 🇫🇷, supported by a ✈️Atlantique 2 🇫🇷, took over from the HMS Portland 🇬🇧 the escort of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov during the transit in the Bay of Biscay and until it leaves the zone of responsibility 🇫🇷 #Stronger together https://t.co/yUeJ8fCBzX pic.twitter.com/H60XlqcjKX
— Maritime Prefecture and Commander-in-Chief of ATLANT (@premar_ceclant) January 13, 2023
A priori, the Armada Española is preparing to take over FREMM Brittany [si ce n’est déjà le cas]. “NATO thinks so [la frégate russe] will enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar. Hence the defense staff [espagnole] has prepared a military operation that will be activated when Spain approaches if these predictions come true,” El Debate daily reported on January 14.
As a reminder, the frigate “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov” with a displacement of 5400 tons with a length of 135 meters and a width of 16 meters. [son nom complet, ndlr] comes from project 22350. It can navigate at a speed of 30 knots and is equipped with 16 vertical launch systems capable of firing Oniks, Kalibr and Zirkon missiles, as well as 32 more cells for Redut surface-to-air missiles and 8 launch tubes -torpedoes. It is also armed with a 130mm cannon.
Photo: Royal Norwegian Navy