[REGNUM] Dandykin: the frigate Admiral Amelko armed with Zircons will join the Pacific Fleet
The Admiral Amelko frigate, which is feared by the US military and equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, will join the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet. This was reported on Friday, August 22, by military expert, retired Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin.
The new first-rank frigate is named after the famous Soviet admiral, and it will join the Pacific Fleet, where Nikolai Amelko once served.
"The ship is armed with a hypersonic missile. I think it will serve in the Far East in about two years. Construction continues, at least four more ships will be built, maybe even six. They are being improved, maybe the next ones will have even more missiles," he said in a conversation with aif.ru.
Earlier, on August 22, military expert of the Institute of Law and National Security of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Alexander Stepanov called the frigate Admiral Amelko a sea terminator capable of striking both aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines of the enemy. He noted that these warships are a modular launch platform equipped with 24 cells of universal ship firing systems. Frigates of the same project of the second series will receive 32 cells, and the 22 350M model - at least 48 cells, the expert specified.
American military expert Brandon J. Weichert said on August 20 that Russia's new frigate, Admiral Amelko, is keeping U.S. strategists awake at night. The expert added that the ship's creation and full commissioning will strengthen Russia's presence in the Indo-Pacific region, which is important amid tensions with NATO and regional powers.
The frigate Admiral Amelko was launched on August 14 in St. Petersburg. After the ceremony, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Alexander Moiseyev said that the fleet had begun developing a promising ship designed for service in remote ocean zones.