The Admiral Gorshkov frigate from the Northern Fleet arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday 29th October, so that its sailors could participate “in commemorative events dedicated to the centenary of the Russian squadron’s stay” in the country.
Its arrival at the port of Bizerte demonstrates “the multifaceted constructive cooperation between Russia and Tunisia, which includes military collaboration,” according to Vadim Barabanov, Russia’s charge d’affaires in Tunisia.
According to the press, on the same day, “the Russian Fleet flag was hoisted again in Bizerte after 100 years as part of the commemorative events.”
Additionally, during the Russian ship’s stopover, multiple events will be held with representatives from the Russian Embassy in Tunisia, the Russian Science and Culture Center, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense, and the Tunisian Navy.
Currently, Tunisia maintains a friendly relationship with the United States, with whom it has cooperated in defense matters and capability acquisition. However, Russia considers the re-elected president, Kais Saied, to be a “friend” of their nation, and the visit of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate aligns with these goals.
Admiral Gorshkov’s long-distance journey began on May 17, having covered over 23,000 nautical miles so far. The frigate also entered the Mediterranean Sea on July 24 of this year, where the crew practiced interaction with other ships and carried out a series of tasks.
With the central objective of “showing the flag and ensuring naval presence in operationally important areas of the maritime zone,” Russia’s campaign through the Admiral Gorshkov has also extended to the Americas, visiting the port of Havana in Cuba and the port of La Guaira in Venezuela .
On multiple occasions, the frigate was intercepted and escorted in the seas it navigated throughout the year. For instance, on October 7, the Spanish Navy intercepted and monitored the frigate’s navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean, carried out by the ship Cristóbal Colón (F-105), part of NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2).
The Admiral Gorshkov class, Russian designation Project 22350, is a class of frigates of the Russian Navy. The ships are being built by the Severnaya Verf in Saint Petersburg at a cost of $250 million per ship. The lead ship of the class, Admiral Gorshkov, was commissioned on 28 July 2018. It is a successor to the Burevestnik class (Western reporting name Krivak class).
The Admiral Gorshkov class is a perfect example of a multi-role frigate. Many other frigates are focused on specific tasks, such as anti-air warfare, or anti-submarine warfare. This Russian frigate was designed to perform multiple roles, such as performing long-range attacks against surface targets and ships, conducting anti-submarine warfare, carrying out escort missions, and be deployed in a variety of situations that a general frigate class would not be able to fulfill. In some cases, such multi-role frigates can even substitute the deployment of larger destroyers.
This new class of Russian frigates incorporates the best weapons and sensors that the Russian industry can produce. The Admiral Gorshkov class is equipped with a 16-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS) for a mix of Kalibr-NK land-attack cruise missiles (range 2 500 km), P-800 Oniks anti-ship missiles (range 300-500 km), and 91RTE2 anti-submarine missiles (missile drops torpedo 50 km away). There is another 32-cell VLS for medium-range air defense missiles. It uses the same 9M96E and 9M96E2 interceptor missiles as the S-400 land-based air defense system.
These missiles are intended to defend against precision attacks and various defense suppression weapons. These missiles are designed for direct impact to have a range of 40 and 120 km respectively. Their claimed kill probability is 90% against aircraft and 70% against Harpoon anti-ship missiles. It has been reported that this vertical launch system can also launch a short-range missile which is likely a variant of the 9M100.
Further anti-submarine/anti-shipping capabilities are provided via two quadruple 330 mm torpedo launchers for unique Paket-NK torpedoes. These can engage both enemy submarines, as well as incoming torpedoes, thus serving a dual role. There is a 130 mm A-192M gun. It has a rate of fire of 45 rounds per minute. It can be used to engage surface targets, as well as to bombard land.
Last-ditch defense is provided by two Palash Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS), mounted at the rear. These defense systems are fitted with 30 mm rapid-firing Gatling guns and 8 short-range surface-to-air missiles each. Also, there are two pedestal-mounted 14.5 mm heavy machine guns. The Admiral Gorshkov class frigates have a hangar and can accommodate a single Kamov Ka-27, or similar naval helicopter.
Last year, at the South African naval exercise – MOSI, Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate, on a long-distance training voyage, was supposed to launch of a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic missile during the joint exercise with South African and Chinese navies.
However, the launch was subsequently cancelled, due to unexplained reasons. Although the exercise went on as planned.
