South Africa plans to hold a military exercise with the Russian and Chinese navies next week. Moscow is sending the modernized frigate "Soviet Admiral Gorshkov" to the Indian Ocean for this purpose. The start of the maneuver falls on a historic anniversary. Moscow
According to official information, Russia, China and South Africa want to start naval maneuvers in the Indian Ocean off the African coast on Friday. The military exercise, dubbed "Operation Mosi," which means "smoke" in the local Tswana language, is scheduled to take place over the next ten days off the southeastern port city of Durban.
The naval exercise coincides with the February 24 anniversary of the start of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. It will strengthen the "already flourishing relationship between South Africa, Russia and China," said the South African army leadership. South Africa, part of the Brics group of emerging economies along with Russia, China, India and Brazil, has so far taken a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. South Africa abstained in a United Nations vote condemning the war last year.
According to the state news agency TASS, Russia is taking part in the maneuver with the frigate "Soviet Admiral Gorshkov" and a sea tanker. The frigate only left the shipyard in Murmansk in northern Russia at the beginning of the year after a general overhaul. During the modernization, the warship was also equipped with Zirkon-type hypersonic missiles.
At the end of January, the "Soviet Admiral Gorshkov" imitated the launch of a Zircon missile for the first time during a maneuver in the Atlantic - using a computer simulation. According to Tass, a real target is to be fired at with the missile during the maneuvers in the Indian Ocean for the first time. The Zirkon is a long-range, high-speed anti-ship missile. The rocket is said to be able to accelerate to more than 9,000 kilometers per hour, which makes it practically unattainable for anti-aircraft defense. It can also potentially carry a nuclear warhead.
