SEVASTOPOL, June 29. /TASS/: The crew of the Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Makarov repelled an attack by a notional enemy’s underwater saboteurs and aircraft during drills in the Mediterranean Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.
"The crew of the Black Sea Fleet’s frigate Admiral Makarov performing its missions within the Navy’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce held planned drills for providing air defense and repelling an attack by notional underwater saboteurs," the press office said in a statement.
During the drills, the frigate’s air defense teams received a scenario injection about the notional enemy’s approaching aircraft. The targets were identified as hostile and the anti-aircraft gunners locked on and eliminated them by electronic missile launches from the Shtil-1 air defense missile system, the statement says.
Under the drills’ scenario, the frigate’s crew subsequently practiced an algorithm of measures to thwart a threat of an attack by a notional enemy’s underwater saboteur forces and capabilities during its anchorage in an unsafe roadstead. The personnel deployed anti-saboteur posts and also accomplished the exercise of throwing grenades, the press office said.
The warships like the Admiral Makarov represent a new series of Project 11356R/M frigates (the Project 11357 designation is also used). These frigates are designed to destroy enemy surface ships and vessels, submarines and ground installations, carry out patrols and defend sea lanes.
The frigates of this Project are armed with eight launchers of Kalibr-NK cruise missiles that are capable of striking surface, coastal and underwater targets at a distance of up to 2,600 km.
The warships of this Project are also armed with Shtil-1, Palash and AK-630M air defense missile and artillery systems, A-190 100mm universal artillery guns, torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 rocket launchers. The frigates also have a take-off and landing strip and a hangar for an anti-submarine warfare helicopter (Ka-27 or Ka-31).
Russian Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron
The Soviet Navy’s 5th Mediterranean Squadron served as a prototype for the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce operating at present. The 5th operational Soviet Squadron dealt with the tasks of naval presence in the Mediterranean theater of operations during the Cold War period. Its main rival was the US Navy’s 6th Fleet. The Soviet Squadron was disbanded on December 31, 1992, a year after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In 2013, Russia started to create a new operational Mediterranean taskforce. Russia’s new permanent Squadron is dealing with planned and urgent combat missions arising in the Mediterranean theater of operations, including warding off threats to Russia’s national and military security.
