RUSSIA, FRANCE: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a frigate armed with the country's latest Zircon hypersonic missile on a trans-ocean cruise in a show of force as tensions with the West escalate over the war in Ukraine. Russia touts that the Zircon missile can evade any Western air defenses by flying at an astounding 7,000 miles per hour (11,265 km/h).
Armed with an array of missiles, the ship is 130-metres (427-feet) long and has a crew of about 200. In 2019, it circled the world oceans on a 35,000-nautical mile journey. Putin has hailed Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometres (over 620 miles). Meanwhile, France is set to become the first Western country to deliver tanks to Ukraine, the French presidency announced Wednesday after talks between Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
The move to supply the French-made AMX-10 RC to Ukraine -- a light tank model in service since the 1980s that is being phased out in the French military -- represents a significant shift in French military support for Ukraine.
It was not immediately clear how many of the French tanks would be dispatched or when they would be delivered, though training and maintenance has been agreed as part of the deal. The French defence ministry said the countries' defence ministers would soon hold talks. The AMX-10 RC tanks are light and six-wheeled, rather than on tracks.
- abc news, FRANCE 24
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