SEVASTOPOL, May 21. /TASS/. The crews of the Black Sea Fleet frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen held artillery firings against coastal targets in Crimea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.
"During the first stage of the firings, the crews of artillery combat units of both ships practiced the algorithm of measures in accomplishing a combat training exercise. At the second stage of the drills, the artillery personnel conducted preparatory firings from A-190 artillery systems against coastal targets," the press office said in a statement.
The firings were conducted in the area of the Opuk combat training range in Crimea, the press office specified.
During qualification firings, the frigates’ personnel successfully struck both visible and invisible coastal targets. In order to strike the latter, the artillery crews employed navigational data with the reliance on an additional aiming point, the statement says.
The crews earlier practiced the frigates’ emergency response preparedness for a battle and their deployment with the subsequent departure from the base for the designated areas in the Black Sea.
The warships like the Admiral Essen represent a new series of Project 11356R/M frigates (the Project 11357 designation is also used). These frigates are designed to destroy enemy surface ships and vessels, submarines and ground installations, carry out patrols and defend sea lanes.
The frigates of this Project 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).