SEVASTOPOL, November 16. /TASS/. The crews of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen held drills jointly with deck-based rotorcraft in the Mediterranean Sea to practice searching for a notional enemy’s submarines, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
The crews of the Russian frigates are accomplishing their assignments as part of the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean task force.
"Drills were held to practice searching for and tracking a submarine, searching for, rescuing and providing medical assistance to persons in distress at sea," the press office said in a statement.
The drills involved Kamov Ka-27PL and Ka-27PS helicopters that made about 30 takeoffs and landings onto the decks of the frigates.
The Admiral Makarov and the Admiral Essen are warships of a new series of Project 11356R/M (11357) frigates. These are multipurpose blue-water frigates (guard ships) designated to destroy surface combatants, submarines and enemy ground facilities, carry out patrols and protect sea communications.
The frigates are armed with eight launchers of Kalibr-NK cruise missiles that are capable of striking surface, coastal and underwater targets at a distance of up to 2,600 km. The warships of this Project are also armed with Shtil-1, Palash and AK-630M air defense missile and artillery systems, A-190 100mm universal artillery guns, torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 rocket launchers. The frigates also have a take-off and landing strip and a hangar for an anti-submarine warfare helicopter (Ka-27 or Ka-31).