Russian Northern Fleet on exercise in the Barents Sea

Russian nuclear submarines and surface vessels from the Northern Fleet have been firing large salvos of missiles.

The Northern Fleet is a unit of the Russian Navy responsible for the defence of northwestern Russia. The fleet has access to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from bases on the Barents and Norwegian Seas. The fleet headquarters and administrative centre are located at the main base at Severomorsk with secondary bases elsewhere in the Kola Bay.

The Northern Fleet includes about two-thirds of all the Russian Navy’s nuclear-powered ships. The flagship Kirov-class battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy is named after Peter the Great. The Fleet staged a series of major Barents Sea exercises in January 2004 involving thirteen ships and seven submarines including Pyotr Velikiy, Admiral Kuznetsov and President Vladimir Putin was aboard the Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine Arkhangelsk. The exercise was marred by two RSM-54 SLBM launch failures aboard Novomoskovsk and Karelia.

The Russian Defence Ministry’s Northern Fleet press service head said:

“During military exercises today from various forces from the Northern Fleet, Antei-class nuclear submarines fired cruise missiles from a submersed position at targets in the Barents Sea,” Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga told journalists.

The crew of the Admiral Ushakov destroyer fired a Moskit anti-ship cruise missile at the set target at a military training ground in the Barents Sea at a distance of about 100 kilometers.”

The exercise involved surface vessels, nuclear submarines, coastal artillery units, naval aviation and logistics vessels.