A Royal Norwegian Air Force P-3 Orion long-range maritime patrol aircraft has shadowed the Russia Navy’s Zircon missile-armed Admiral Gorshkov frigate in international waters outside the Norwegian coast.
“She is legally in international waters – but as always, we are closely monitoring any movements and will do so as long as the frigate is in our areas,” the Norwegian Armed Force said in a Twitter post Friday.
The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov belongs to a new class of frigates that are equipped with new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
The frigate Admiral Gorshkov belongs to the Russian Northern Fleet and has its home base on the Kola Peninsula, where it presumably has its destination, according to the Norwegian Armed Forces. Since the celebration of the Russian Navy Day in St. Petersburg on the 31st of July, the vessel has been undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in said city.
The frigate KNM Fridtjof Nansen and the Coast Guard vessel KV Sortland also followed the Russian combat vessel’s voyage north.
“It is completely legitimate for Russians to sail in international waters. We have a good overview of what is happening outside our coast,” says Commodore Trond Gimmingsrud, Chief of the Norwegian Navy.
