SEVASTOPOL, September 24. /TASS/: The crews of the Black Sea Fleet’s warships fired anti-aircraft missile and artillery guns against enemy aerial and naval targets during drills for protecting maritime facilities, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
The firings were conducted as part of the joint drills of the warships from the Fleet’s Crimean and Novorossiysk naval bases in the Black Sea. The naval sailors practiced their joint deployment and combat maneuvering as part of same-type and combined arms tactical groups and held drills to provide communications, anti-submarine and air defense for a naval group, the press office said in a statement.
At the final stage of the drills, the warships’ crews conducted missile and artillery firings against sea and aerial targets from anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery guns. At this stage of the drills, the naval maneuvers involved the Fleet’s five ships and vessels, including the patrol ships Dmitry Rogachev and Pavel Derzhavin, the hovercraft Samum and also the missile boats Shuya, Ivanovets and R-60," the statement says.
The naval maneuvers have brought together about 20 Black Sea Fleet surface combatants and support vessels, including missile and anti-submarine warfare ships, submarines, the Fleet’s minesweeping forces, auxiliary and rescue vessels, aircraft and helicopters of its naval aviation and air defense troops. Unmanned aerial vehicles are exercising visual control of the forces engaged in the drills.
