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In
a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor
Krokhmal, commander of the frigate named "Admiral of the Fleet
of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", Putin said the ship was armed
with Zircon hypersonic weapons.
"This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic
missile system - 'Zircon' - which has no analogues," said Putin,
who is engaged in a standoff with the West over his war in
Ukraine.
"I would like to wish the crew of the ship success in their
service for the good of the Motherland."
Shoigu said the Gorshkov would sail to the Atlantic and Indian
oceans and to the Mediterranean Sea.
"This ship, armed with 'Zircons', is capable of delivering
pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on
land," Shoigu said.
Shoigu said the hypersonic missiles, known as either Tsirkon or
Zircon, could overcome any missile defence system. The missiles
fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of over
1,000 km, Shoigu said.
Russia, China and the United States are currently in a
hypersonic weapons race. Because of their speeds - above five
times the speed of sound - and manoeuvrability, such weapons are
seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary.
The target of a hypersonic weapon is much more difficult to
calculate than for intercontinential ballistic missiles.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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