Russian Navy resumes long-distance deployments - Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Navy has revived its tradition of long-distance maritime deployments with a focus on practical measures by combined fleet groups at sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release, received by Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
"Every ship commander has been given the task to use each nautical mile of a long-distance deployment to a far-off ocean zone to conduct different tactical and ship maneuvers," the ministry said ahead of a deployment by warships of the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.
"The main goal of the deployment of this combined group of ships belonging to the three fleets is to practice operations supervised by a single commander," it said.
"During the deployment, the ships of this inter-fleet group will hold maneuvers with the help of helicopters that will center on anti-submarine defense in the close-in zone, liaison arrangements during a deployment, the group's air defense, as well as safe navigation when passing through narrow navigation lanes," the ministry said.
The last deployment of a combined inter-fleet group took place from December 2011 to February 2012, it said. Northern Fleet ships led by the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov acted in coordination with Baltic and Black Sea Fleet forces in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea supervised by a single commander.