by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A Russian warship carrying Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles carried out drills in the English Channel earlier this month, Sky News reports. Russia began mass-producing Zircon missiles in 2023 in an effort to strengthen its nuclear weapons capability.
A Project 22350 frigate, the Admiral Golovko navy warship left its base in Severomorsk, Russia, on November 2 and reached the Pas De Calais section of the English Channel on Sunday, November 10, Sky News reports. Project 22350 ships are the largest type of warship in Russia’s current navy fleet and are designed for long-range missions.
The Golovko conducted counter-terrorism drills and training on avoiding dangerous targets, Sky News reports. The ship was fitted with 3S14 VLS cells, which can launch Kalibr, Oniks, or Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles. “The sea-based Zircon hypersonic missiles have a range of 900 km (560 miles), and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them,” Sky News noted in its report.
The Golovko’s principal task was to “demonstrate the flag and ensure the naval presence in important areas of the off-shore maritime zone,” the Russian defense ministry said.
In a statement, the UK’s conservative shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge said the Russian Navy drill shows that Britain must boost its own military.
“[The Russian Navy’s] reports underline how Russian activity continues to pose a direct right on our doorstep, not just in Ukraine. That’s why it’s so important for the Government to set out a clear pathway to 2.5 percent of GDP being spent on defense – so that we can rearm at pace, and boost our deterrence,” Cartlidge said.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The State Department is preparing to send American diplomats back to several U.S. embassies across the Middle East, signaling that Washington believes the immediate threat from the recent Iran conflict has eased, according to reports citing an internal State Department document.
President Donald Trump sharply escalated his trade battle with Canada on Monday, threatening to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50% beginning Jan. 1, 2027, after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa collapsed late last week.
China pushed back Tuesday against the Trump administration’s expanding sanctions campaign on Iran, signaling that Beijing will not submit to Washington’s effort to isolate Tehran through what U.S. officials have described as a sweeping economic offensive.
Concerns remained Monday over Christian leader Dedi Saputra after a court in Indonesia’s Aceh Province sentenced the convert from Islam to two years in prison for an online video deemed insulting to Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
Residents discovered the body of a murdered Christian teenager in Pakistan’s Punjab province after authorities detained police suspects in the case, Christian investigators told Worthy News on Monday.
Evangelical Christians in Tehran fear they will become further isolated after Iran’s parliament advanced legislation that would increase punishments for Iranians who interact with foreign media outlets, organizations, or individuals.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed President Donald Trump a significant victory in his effort to tighten federal election safeguards, lifting a lower-court injunction that had blocked parts of his executive order addressing mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections.