Admiral Golovko, the third frigate of Project 22350, launched on May 22, 2020, will become the first ship to carry Zircon missiles
Russia has tested the Zircon missile and says the results are reliable. At the end of the 2020 test, the Zircon missile traveled 450 km in just over 4 minutes, with a maximum speed of 9,900 km/h and easily destroyed a target located in the Barents Sea. Zircon can share vertical launches with Kalibr cruise missiles and Oniks anti-ship missiles, which allows deployment on multiple ships such as Project 20380 corvettes, Project 22350 frigates and Project 885 “Yasen” nuclear attack submarines.
The Zircon missile is said to have a range of about 1,000km, capable of hitting both sea and land targets. Russian media said that currently in the world, including NATO, there is no effective method to intercept Zircon missiles. It can be equipped on many warship platforms, but Russia chose a Project 22350 frigate to equip it first, which is said to send a solid message to NATO.
Currently, the frigate of Project 22350 is the most powerful and modern warship recently built for the Russian Navy. Project 22350 frigates once armed with 48 Zircon hypersonic missiles, they will become fearsome anti-ship killers. In addition to destroying enemy ships, they can also attack aircraft carriers.
The Project 22350 frigates are designed to engage submarines and warships, as well as respond to air attacks independently and in formation. Stealth technology is also used in the construction process to make these warships invisible to enemy radar systems. Admiral Gorshkov has a full load displacement of 5,400 tons. She has a length of 135 meters, beam is 16 m and draft is 4.5 m. The ship can carry a crew of 170, and is supported by a Ka-27 helicopter at the stern.
The ship’s main weapons include 16-cell 3S-14 vertical launchers for Kalibr and Zircon missiles. In addition, the ship is equipped with 32 cells Redut VLS system for 9M96, 9M96M, 9M96D/9M96DM surface-to-air missiles. For anti-submarine warfare, the ship is equipped with 8 x 330 mm torpedo tubes for Paket-NK anti-torpedo/anti-submarine torpedoes. 2 Palash close-in weapon systems with the ability to launch Sosna-R missiles and AO-18KD high-speed cannon are also equipped.
The Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates are equipped with a massive avionics system, with 5P-27 main radar for Detection, tracking and targeting of air and surface targets, Monolit 34K1 surface search radar, Puma 5P-10 Main Artillery radar fire control system, Zarya-M submarine detection sonar system and many other electronic equipment.
Admiral Golovko and her sisters are equipped with a Combined diesel and gas propulsion system, with a total capacity of up to 65,500 hp, giving the ship a maximum speed of 30 knots, a range of 4,850 nmi. It is known that the ship can operate continuously for 30 days at sea before having to refuel and food. Russia has already completed three ships, and another six are in the process of being built. Project 22350 frigates will be the backbone of the future Russian Navy.
