MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. The latest mine countermeasures ship Vladimir Yemelyanov held artillery firings against a naval and an air target in the Baltic Sea, the Baltic Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.
"The crew of the minesweeper Vladimir Yemelyanov destroyed a floating mine notionally detected by the ship’s sonars. As the next stage of the drills at sea, a parachute target dropped by a Su-27 fighter of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation was destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery," the press office said in a statement.
The minesweeper employed a 14.5mm shipborne pedestal machine-gun mount and an AK-306 surface-to-air artillery system to destroy the naval and the air target, the statement says.
The Project 12700 minesweeper Vladimir Yemelyanov entered service with Russia’s Baltic Fleet on December 28.
Shipbuilders will build a series of several dozen Project 12700 mine countermeasures ships for the Russian Navy. The warships of this class are designated to fight sea mines, including smart naval munitions, which a minesweeper like the Vladimir Yemelyanov can encounter in the water and on the seabed without entering the dangerous zone. The minesweepers can employ various sweeps, as well as remotely controlled and autonomous underwater drones.
The Project 12700 mine countermeasures vessels (minesweepers) have the world’s biggest hull made of monolithic fiberglass formed by vacuum infusion. As its advantage, this solution provides for the ship’s higher strength compared to the steel hull. The hull made of the monolithic fiberglass has a longer service life (up to 30 years) than the hull made of low-magnetic steel while its weight is considerably smaller.