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Russian Northern Fleet deploys over 20 warships and subs in Arctic drills

During the drills, both forces actively employed drones to conduct reconnaissance and specify the tactical situation

SREDNY PENINSULA /Murmansk Region/, July 21. /TASS/. The Northern Fleet held large-scale force-on-force battalion-level drills on the Sredny Peninsula in the Murmansk Region as part of the troops’ snap combat readiness check, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"This stage of the surprise inspection involves over 20 ships, submarines and support vessels of the Northern Fleet, six tactical naval groups, about 10 aircraft of various classes, over 250 items of armament, military and special hardware and more than 3,000 personnel of the Northern Fleet," the press office said in a statement.

During the drills, the ships and submarines practiced the assignments of suppressing the notional enemy’s fire emplacements on the coast, the statement says.

"The combat teams of an AK-100 battery of the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk and an AK-725 battery of the large amphibious assault ship Kondopoga held artillery firings against target positions. The crew of a Ka-27 helicopter from an air group of the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk practiced delivering an air strike and landing an airborne assault force into the enemy rear," according to the statement.

The motorized infantry of the Northern Fleet’s army corps practiced missions to hold anti-amphibious assault defense of the coast, the press office said.

"The Northern Fleet personnel organized measures to defend the coast against the assault force’s landing with the support of combat ships and aircraft, taking into account the experience of combat operations in present-day armed conflicts," the statement says.

During the drills, both forces actively employed drones to conduct reconnaissance and specify the tactical situation.

The snap combat readiness check of the troops of the Southern and Western Military Districts, marine infantry of the Northern and Pacific Fleets, some units of central subordination and the Airborne Force is being held on July 17 - 21 on order of Russia’s Supreme Commander-in-Chief President Vladimir Putin.

The surprise combat readiness check involves about 150,000 troops, around 400 aircraft, over 26,000 items of armament, military and special hardware and over 100 warships and support vessels.