Yesterday, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov (Project 22350) left its port of assignment, in the Murmansk area, for a long cruise that will take it to the Indian Ocean, via the Mediterranean (where it could stay for up to a year).
The news is interesting for two reasons:
- the ship would be armed with new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles: a video that the Russian Ministry of Defense released in May 2022 (and not “today” as reported in the tweet down here) and said showed Gorshkov launching a Zircon missile, has been circulating online in these days
- it would be a new entry into the Mediterranean after the Russian Navy’s strength in the area has been gradually decreasing in recent months.
Obviously it is not possible to track the ship, but the Northern Fleet Kaliningradneft Class tanker ‘Kama’ is sailing in the Atlantic off the coast of Norway. It is possible that this unit is on a transfer together with the Admiral Gorshkov, perhaps preceding it but still remaining in the vicinity.
If this is indeed the case, it will not be long before we also track military flights keeping an eye on the convoy (in addition to the official photos of the NATo navies escorting the Russian ship).