The number and scale of exercises have increased in response to new challenges and threats
In late October – early November, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (MO RF) published a number of news articles, the content of which indicates an increase in the intensity of combat training of the Russian Navy (Navy). The reason for the disclosure of interesting figures and facts was the Day of the Seafarer, celebrated annually on October 30.
Congratulating his subordinates on their professional holiday, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, said: "Emerging new challenges and threats at sea convincingly confirm that the presence of a strong Navy will ensure our country's strong position in a multipolar world, will allow it to effectively implement and protect national interests."
Recall that in September, under the command of Evmenov, large-scale tactical exercises "Finval-2023" were held to protect communications of the Northern Sea Route.
The forces and means involved operated on the Chukchi Peninsula, the waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas. For the first time in recent history, simultaneous rocket firing was carried out in four environments at once: from the sea, from the shore, from under water and from the air.
In his address to the surface sailors, Evmenov promised that "the modern Russian Navy will continue to be replenished with the latest combat ships of the ocean and sea zone, equipped with high-precision weapons and possessing effective maneuverability and speed characteristics."
First of all, we are talking about the latest guided missile frigates (FR URO) of project 22350. To date, the sailors have received from the industry the main body "Admiral Gorshkov" and the first serial "Admiral Kasatonov".
On the first day of the final autumn month, Kasatonov completed the interbase crossing and arrived in Severomorsk, where the permanent station of large surface ships of the Northern Fleet (SF) is located. Earlier, he visited Severodvinsk, where employees of local shipbuilding enterprises carried out scheduled maintenance of the frigate's systems and mechanisms. At the final stage of the transition, the Kasatonov crew worked out interaction with the pilots of deck helicopters of the Ka-27 family, as well as personnel of aviation, anti-aircraft missile and radar units in order to verify the correct functioning of radio-technical weapons, air defense complexes, communication and aviation control systems.
Spreading such information, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recalled that the Kasatonov was built at the Severnaya Verf shipbuilding enterprise in St. Petersburg. Its hull was laid in 2010 and launched in 2014. In the spring of this year, the frigate returned from a long voyage lasting more than 420 days. Following the instructions of the command, the North Sea sailors ensured the presence of the Russian Navy in designated areas of the World Ocean, performed tasks in the Mediterranean, as well as along the line of strategic deterrence of a potential enemy. The frigates of project 22350 are capable of solving such tasks thanks to a powerful weapon system, which has recently been supplemented with hypersonic attack missiles "Zircon". Currently, only the Russian Navy is armed with surface ships – carriers of hypersonic missile weapons.
In October, Admiral Gorshkov "worked out the use of high-precision weapons by electronic launches," and this was the first training event for the frigate's crew after returning to Severomorsk from a long-distance hike of 50 thousand miles.
In his own address on the occasion of the Day of the Seafarer, the commander of the SF Admiral Alexander Moiseev noted that the surface forces subordinate to him "successfully perform their tasks in conditions of any complexity" from the Arctic to the southern seas. "The ships of the SF solve the tasks of strategic deterrence, to protect the national interests of the Russian Federation in the World Ocean, to ensure the security of the country from ocean and sea directions," Moiseev stressed. "The fleet's surface forces include ships of the far ocean zone, the latest frigates armed with high–precision missile weapons, missile cruisers, large and small anti-submarine ships."
Along with the crews of warships, important tasks are also performed by sailors of auxiliary fleet vessels, emergency rescue detachments and hydrography, as well as torpedo boats, boats of associations and formations that ensure the combat readiness of the SF. "An important assessment of the merits of the sailors from the North Sea was the awarding of the Order of Ushakov to the union of missile ships of the SF, which took place in February of this year," Moiseev continued. "This is the highest assessment by the state of the activities and merits of the many thousands of sailors in strengthening the country's defense capability, courage and dedication shown by the personnel in carrying out combat training and special tasks."
The crews of the Kola Flotilla of heterogeneous forces, who recently completed the tasks of the 12th Arctic campaign, were also rewarded with command incentives.
The commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov. Photo by Vladimir Karnozov
According to the experience of the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, more attention was paid in the fleet to working out interaction with the crews of rotorcraft (see "The Black Sea asks for helicopters", "HBO" from 07.09.23). So, in late October – early November, five crews of Ka-27 deck rotorcraft were trained in the Barents Sea at once. One by one, they performed landings on the aft pad of the large anti-submarine ship (BOD) "Vice Admiral Kulakov". In just one flight shift, more than a dozen landings were made on the deck of the ship. During the subsequent development of take-off operations, the pilots were required, along with demonstrating high professional skills, also the ability to competently analyze the entire flow of information from the carrier ship coming through digital and analog communication channels. After completing the interaction with the aviators, the Vice Admiral Kulakov BOD performed electronic missile launches.
Trainings with the participation of sailors and aviators also took place in the Baltic, where the Admiral Grigorovich recently came from the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the three newest frigates of the 11356R project, built at the Baltic shipyard "Yantar" as part of the Black Sea Fleet Renewal Program (BSF). During the SVO, the same-type Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen repeatedly launched long-range cruise missiles of the Kalibr-NK complex at objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on October 31, Admiral Grigorovich interacted with the Ka-27 helicopters of the Baltic Fleet (BF), which worked out the tasks of landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. During the combat training event, the BF pilots made more than 30 landings on the deck of the Grigorovich when the frigate was adrift and on the move. A special place was given to night flights. As stated in the relevant message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, all members of the aircraft crew must have "helicopter control skills in conditions of limited visibility, when it is necessary to perform a flight task, to carry out safe take-off and landing on the deck of the ship, guided solely by instruments." The next point of the exercises is the practical use by helicopter pilots of tactical techniques for searching and tracking submarines of a conditional enemy during the day and at night, as well as conducting interaction with surface ships when performing anti–submarine tasks.
According to the calculations of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, this year the Baltic sailors performed a total of more than 420 combat exercises, including rocket, artillery and torpedo firing, mine laying, depth bombing, anti-mine exercises. About 120 course tasks were completed by the crews of the BF ships, and more than 30 tactical exercises of various levels were conducted by ship formations and tactical groups. Shock, trawling and amphibious naval tactical groups have been prepared. The surfacing of surface forces in the Baltic from January to October of this year, inclusive, amounted to about 3 thousand days. In total, surface ships and support vessels have passed about 200 thousand nautical miles. This year, more than a hundred Baltic sailors were awarded state awards and departmental insignia for successfully solving the tasks of long-distance campaigns, merits in strengthening the country's defense capability, maritime training, maintaining high combat readiness and courage.
BF ships are involved in performing tasks far from their native shores. So, in May, the BF detachment returned from a long hike as part of the corvettes "Persistent" and "Smart". During the seven months of the voyage, the detachment visited the Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic, Northern, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Aegean and Ionian Seas. According to a single plan, numerous trainings were conducted with warships of the Pacific, Northern and Black Sea fleets, during which the surface sailors worked out joint tasks at the inter-fleet level. During the campaign, the crews of the "Persistent" and "Savvy" worked out several dozen exercises of various directions. We visited the ports of Egypt, Algeria and Syria with business calls. In total, the Baltic corvettes have covered over 38 thousand nautical miles during the campaign.
The Serpukhov small rocket ship (MRC), having made an inter-fleet passage through inland water communications from the Baltic to the White Sea and back, covering a distance of about 3.3 thousand nautical miles. Having reached a given point at the Northern Fleet training ground, Serpukhov launched a long-range cruise missile of the Kalibr-NK complex. As a result, the coastal target designated by the head of the exercise was hit at a distance of more than 1 thousand km. Objective control means confirmed that the missile hit the designated object at the Chizha test site.
On the Pacific coast, the Day of the Seafarer was celebrated with a solemn formation of personnel and the raising of flags over the ships. The events were held in Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. They included awarding those who distinguished themselves during combat training classes. Further, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation says the following. "The results of the outgoing academic year will be announced later, but already now we can say that the surfacing of ships of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) has significantly increased compared to the previous year due to the intensity of combat training and during the performance of suddenly emerging tasks by surface sailors."
The flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the Varyag cruiser, operates in the Sea of Japan, where it entered through the La Perouse Strait. During the transition from Kamchatka, the crew conducted training with the development of combat training exercises, improved skills in air defense and the fight for the survivability of the ship, solving anti-sabotage tasks. And in the Sea of Okhotsk, the flagship cruiser carried out an exercise to search for vessels violating the state border, followed by their destruction by artillery fire.
November found the BOD "Admiral Tributs" and "Admiral Panteleev" in Southeast Asia. The day before, Pacific sailors conducted a joint exercise with the Indonesian Navy in the waters of the Java Sea. Having crossed the Strait of Malacca into the waters of the Andaman Sea, the TOPH detachment continues its long march.
At the beginning of November, the corvette "Sharp" was also at sea. The personnel carried out emergency preparations for combat. Upon leaving the permanent base, the ship set course for the naval training ground. He went into Peter the Great Bay for a few days to carry out the necessary preparation for the delivery of elements of the second course task, with the execution of artillery firing. The crew fired from a 100-mm artillery installation AU A-190 and 30-mm anti-aircraft artillery installations AU AK-630M at targets simulating the means of an air attack of a simulated enemy. Imitation of the actions of enemy aircraft were conducted by planes and helicopters of the Pacific Fleet. The following tasks: working out elements of naval combat to repel the attack of an "enemy" ship and destroy it with artillery fire, fighting for the survivability of your own ship.
By the beginning of November, the control ship "Marshal Krylov" returned to the point of permanent deployment. Participating in maneuvers of diverse fleet forces off the coast of Kamchatka, Krylov provided uninterrupted communication during the exercises, monitored the surface and air situation. Then the crew of the ship conducted various trainings, including with nuclear submarines and minesweeping forces.
The sea minesweepers "Anatoly Shlemov" and "Pyotr Ilyichev" conducted a mine action exercise in the Avacha Bay, made a passage through a conditional minefield set by the "enemy". A self-propelled underwater vehicle (SPA) was used to search for and neutralize dangerous objects, with the help of which the sailors worked out a remote search for mock-ups of mines with their subsequent detonation. Then the crews of the minesweepers performed the installation of contact and non-contact trawls and provided conditional wiring of warships through a safe passage. Conditionally detected mines were destroyed by artillery fire.
Vyacheslav Ivanov
Vyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Karnozov is the executive editor of HBO.