Putin deploys warship armed with ‘unstoppable’ 7,000mph hypersonic nuke missiles to sail past Britain

VLADIMIR Putin's warship armed with "unstoppable" 7,000mph hypersonic nuke missiles is set to sail past Britain.

Admiral Gorshkov will lead a Russian naval task force early next year in a show of strength to the West.

And the warship will be armed with Mach 9 hypersonic Zircon nuclear missiles.

"The Admiral Gorshkov is scheduled to begin its combat duty at sea in January 2023,” a source close to the Russian defence ministry told TASS state news agency.

"It will perform its combat tasks in the Mediterranean Sea, with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles on board."

Earlier this year, the Zircon was fired from the Admiral Gorshkov in the Barents Sea and hit a target at a range of 625 miles in the White Sea.

The Kremlin previously branded the deadly weapon, which carries a conventional or nuclear warhead, “unstoppable”.

The vessel has arrived at the Northern Fleet’s main base in Arctic port Severomorsk after scheduled maintenance at Kronstadt Marine Plant.

The new mission is expected to take the Gorshkov from Severomorsk past the UK as it heads for war games in the Mediterranean.

The Russians have not disclosed the exact route or timings. 

Putin has previously boasted the missiles have no rivals in the world. 

And Russian propaganda channel TV Zvezda warned the frigate "will very soon become the most dangerous enemy of surface ships in the world’s oceans".

It suggested Zircon tests could be carried out during the war games.

The Zircon will be deployed on Russian frigates and, later, on submarines. 

Earlier it was identified by Moscow’s state-controlled TV as Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out American cities in the event of an atomic conflict.

TV Zvezda - a channel owned by the Russian defence ministry - said: “The Russian Zircon hypersonic missile's stealth features have been disclosed.

“The speed of the Zircon hypersonic missile is so high that it prevents the opponent's air defence system from detecting its impact in time. 

“In fact, its launch will be known only after the target has been hit.”

The missile also has a “variable trajectory” to avoid detection, viewers were told. 

The Zircon or Tsirkon is only one of Putin's terrifying superweapons.

The deadly RS-28 Sarmat missile can fly 11,000 miles, carry 15 warheads and has the potential to destroy an area the size of France.