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Russian combat ships kick off drills with Chinese, Iranian navies in Gulf of Oman

Representatives of the navies of Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and the South African Republic will take part in the naval maneuvers as observers for the first time, it said

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Russian combat ships kicked off joint naval maneuvers with the Chinese and Iranian navies in the Gulf of Oman, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"A group of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s ships comprising the Guards missile cruiser Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov has started practicing objectives of the joint international naval exercise Maritime Security Belt 2024 with ships of the Iranian and Chinese navies," the ministry said in a statement.

Representatives of the navies of Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and the South African Republic will take part in the naval maneuvers as observers for the first time, it said.

During the naval maneuvers, combat ships from the three countries will accomplish joint maneuvering and firings against surface and aerial targets and practice elements of freeing a vessel seized by pirates, the ministry reported.

Overall, the joint naval maneuvers involve more than 20 combat ships, support vessels and gunboats from the Russian, Iranian and Chinese navies. Naval aviation helicopters are broadly employed in the drills. The naval maneuvers aim to practice measures for ensuring the safety of maritime economic activity, it specified.

The international naval maneuvers Maritime Security Belt are running for the sixth time. They were held for the first time in the waters of the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean in 2018. Combat ships from the Russian, Chinese and Iranian navies participate in the maneuvers on a constant basis. Last year, the Russian Navy’s frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov, the world’s first carrier of hypersonic missiles, took part in the drills.

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