KALININGRAD, August 5. /TASS/. More than 20 warships and over 4,000 personnel of the Baltic Fleet are taking part in the Russian Navy’s 'Ocean Shield-2019' large-scale drills in the Baltic Sea, the Fleet’s press office said in a statement on Monday.
"As part of the maneuvers, several naval groups have sailed to the Baltic Fleet’s combat training ranges for tactical exercises. They include the corvettes Boiky, Stoiky and Steregushchiy, the guard ship Yaroslav Mudry, the small missile ships Passat, Geizer, Serpukhov and Mytishchi, the missile boats Chuvashia and Morshansk, the large amphibious assault ships Alexander Shabalin and Kaliningrad and other ships and support vessels," the statement says.
Overall, the combat training events involve more than 4,000 personnel of the Baltic Fleet and also about 20 aircraft and helicopters, including aviation of the Pacific Fleet. During the naval maneuvers, the crews of the Baltic Fleet’s warships will perform about 100 combat exercises with the use of weapons.
The Baltic Fleet’s warships are carrying out a series of drills to practice anti-submarine warfare measures, deliver notional missile strikes against a simulated enemy’s warships, fire artillery guns and torpedoes at the Fleet’s sea ranges, conduct fire against air and sea targets of various complexity and land the assault force onto rough terrain.
The Baltic Fleet’s crews will also practice measures to search for and destroy a notional submarine, hold electronic launches of missile weapons and repel a massive air raid.
The Russian Navy kicked off the ‘Ocean Shield’ large-scale naval drills in the Baltic Sea on August 1. The naval maneuvers that will last through August 9 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 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.