Russian military conducts largest naval exercises in decades

The exercise will include operations in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans as well as in the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas.

Russia launched a large-scale strategic naval exercise called “Ocean-2024” on Tuesday. It is to take place simultaneously in the Pacific, Arctic Ocean, Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas. According to President Vladimir Putin, the exercises are the largest in the last three decades.

The exercises, aimed at testing the combat readiness and interoperability of the country's fleet and air force, will be held until September 16. The troops are expected to simulate real combat situations, the president said as he attended the start of the maneuvers via video link.

The Defense Ministry has released a series of videos purporting to show the military's participation in the exercises. The Russian Pacific Fleet was the first to launch a massive joint attack on a simulated enemy target on the first day of the exercises, according to the ministry. The fleet's surface and underwater ships, as well as coastal defense systems, fired nearly a dozen cruise missiles in a coordinated salvo.

A clip shows the Russian submarine B-274 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky firing a Kalibr-PL cruise missile underwater. The missile can be fired as a torpedo from a submarine's tube mount. It then surfaces underwater and flies towards its target like a normal cruise missile.

The videos also show Oniks and Uran cruise missiles being fired from Bastion and Bal mobile coastal missile systems. Oniks supersonic missiles can hit targets at a distance of up to 800 km, reaching almost three times the speed of sound.

Separately, according to the ministry, a frigate of the Russian Northern Fleet with another type of Kalibr missiles successfully hit targets at a distance of about 200 kilometers.

More than 30 battleships and auxiliary vessels of the Russian Baltic Fleet set off from their bases on Tuesday to take part in the exercises. The fleet group is expected to carry out certain tasks in the Baltic Sea, the ministry said.

In a meeting with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and the commanders of the Russian fleet on Tuesday, Putin said that in view of the increasing geopolitical tensions, the country's military must be prepared for all possible developments and “reliably defend” both Russia's sovereignty and interests.

(RT.com)