South Africa: Russian ship will not fire supersonic missiles in naval exercise

Supersonic missiles will not be fired by Russian warships involved in a controversial naval exercise taking place in South African waters this month, the African country’s defence forces have confirmed in advance of the maritime drills.

During a media briefing on Wednesday, South Africa’s military issued a statement in which it outlined a range of activities the Russian, Chinese and South African vessels will undertake during Exercise Mosi II, which begins on Friday.

These drills will include the simulation of air attacks on ships, liberating hostages from pirates, and assisting ships in distress at sea and their personnel, and other coastguard-related activities.

The participants will also fire artillery in the manoeuvres, the “active portion” of which will take place between February 25th and 27th.

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Media reports earlier this month had suggested that Russia’s lead warship in the exercise, called the Admiral Gorshkov of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, had been equipped with Zircon cruise missiles that would be tested during the war games. Zircon missiles are said to have a range of up to 900km and can travel at several times the speed of sound, say military experts. However, the defence forces’ statement said that Russia had confirmed to South Africa that “there will be no missiles firing from their vessels during Exercise Mosi II”.

During the media briefing in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal province, the captain of Russia’s exercise flagship, Oleg Gladkiy, also denied that supersonic missiles would be tested off South Africa’s north-eastern coastline.

“There’s no hidden meaning in the exercises that will be performed,” Capt Gladkiy told reporters during the briefing. The Admiral Gorshkov – which has the letters VZ painted on its side, which is a symbol of the country’s invasion of Ukraine – had docked in Cape Town and Durban on its way to Richards Bay. The ship was the target of small protests by anti-war activists during its stay in Cape Town.

South Africa’s involvement in the war games with Russia and China have been widely criticised by its Western partners since they were confirmed last year as the drills coincide with the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

In addition, hosting the maritime exercises suggests to many observers that South Africa has abandoned the “neutral” position it has held in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict since the invasion was launched last February. Pretoria denies its participation in the exercise is a sign that it now supports Russia’s war, saying this is the second set of drills it has been involved in with the country since 2019.

The first Exercise Mosi, which also involved China’s navy, took place off the coast of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province.

In Wednesday’s briefing South Africa’s defence forces reminded its critics that its navy had also recently held similar military exercises with the US, France and India in 2022.