KALININGRAD, August 7. /TASS/. The Baltic Fleet’s large amphibious assault ships successfully repelled a notional enemy’s air attacks and landed the assault force onto rough terrain in the Russian Navy’s Ocean Shield large-scale drills in the Baltic Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.
"The naval assault taskforce comprising the large amphibious assault ships Korolyov, Alexander Shabalin and Minsk successfully accomplished assignments in the Baltic Sea to thwart a notional enemy’s air attack," the Fleet’s press office said in a statement.
During the naval maneuvers, the warships’ crews employed electronic warfare systems for active and passive jamming. The warships’ air defense personnel locked on notional air targets and destroyed them with AK-176 and AK-725 artillery guns.
"The combat training drills for the group of the amphibious assault ships culminated in landing the marine assault force onto rough terrain," the press office said.
The warships’ crews also provided fire support for the assault force landing by firing shipborne artillery guns and Grad-M multiple launch rocket systems.
The Russian Navy kicked off the large-scale naval exercise Ocean Shield in the Baltic Sea on August 1. The naval maneuvers running under the command of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov involve 49 warships and combat craft, 20 support vessels, 58 aircraft of the Navy and the Aerospace Force and over 10,600 personnel. The naval drills will last through August 9.
The naval grouping involved in the maneuvers mostly comprises warships and vessels that took part in Russia’s Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg and Kronshtadt on July 28. The drills will practice the operations of the Navy’s inter-fleet grouping and check the Russian Navy’s preparedness to defend national interests.