At the end of September, the lengthy exercises of the Joint Strategic Command "North" ended. For two months, various formations and subunits subordinate to the command were solving combat training tasks in the waters of several seas. In addition to the ships and submarines of the navy, long-range aviation and some other troops were involved in the exercises. The training activities ended successfully. The troops and the navy showed their capabilities.
On September 30, Izvestia reported about the holding of a number of training events within the framework of some large and lengthy maneuvers. An unnamed representative of the military department, who took part in the planning of the past exercises, said that the purpose of the events was to check the readiness of the formations and units of OSK Sever. The capabilities of the command and its formations in protecting the northern borders of the country were tested. The tasks of protection against all kinds of threats, from landings to missile strikes, were practiced. In addition, the constructed infrastructure was checked.
BOD "Vice-Admiral Kulakov"
According to the source, the exercises were divided into two phases. In the course of the first, which was a command post exercise, the General Staff and USC Sever worked out their actions without involving units and formations of troops. Further, the units received an order to move to position, after which a new phase of the exercises began. During the second stage of the two-month exercises, shooting, going out to sea, etc. were carried out.
According to Izvestia, the legend of the exercises looked like this. The conditional enemy delivered an air and missile strike from the Barents Sea, the North Pole and Chukotka. After that, the naval grouping of the conditional enemy made an attempt to break through in the direction of the Northern Sea Route. The purpose of the breakthrough was the landing of troops and reconnaissance and sabotage groups. The troops involved in the exercises were supposed to repel the attack of the conditional enemy, and also inflict the maximum possible damage on him. To counter the attack, all available means and systems should be used.
The second stage of the exercise involved retaliatory strike against the conditional enemy. To solve this problem, naval strike ships and long-range aviation were involved. Finally, in the last days of September, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from one of the newest submarines of the Russian Navy.
Large-scale exercises of the Northern Fleet and other formations controlled by OSK Sever started on 23 July. As reported by the press service of the Northern Fleet, more than 100 warships and boats, submarines and auxiliary vessels went to sea that day. The ground and coastal troops were also raised on alert. In total, over 1000 units of military equipment were involved in the maneuvers. From the 45th Air Force and Air Defense Army, three dozen aircraft and helicopters took part in the combat readiness check. Anti-aircraft missile battalions of the Kola air defense compound were dispersed in the designated areas.
On July 27, the Northern Fleet announced the completion of another training event. For several days, the crews of two submarines practiced the search and attack of a simulated enemy submarine, and also trained to overcome anti-submarine systems. The task of one of the submarines participating in this exercise was a covert exit to a given area with overcoming existing anti-submarine systems. The second, in turn, had to find a conditional enemy and attack him.
Installation of smoke screens at the Severomorsk base
On August 10, new training sessions began to combat enemy submarines. On that day, the large anti-submarine ships "Vice-Admiral Kulakov" and "Severomorsk", the destroyer "Admiral Ushakov", as well as the small anti-submarine ships "Yunga" and "Brest" left for the Barents Sea. The task of the naval group under the direction of the Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, was to search for submarines of the imaginary enemy. The ships had to solve similar tasks both independently and in cooperation with anti-submarine aviation. The training lasted for several days.
A few days later the ships Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov completed a new combat training mission. This time, the simulated enemy attempted to attack ships using aircraft and cruise missiles. Using their air defenses, the large anti-submarine ships successfully hit the offensive simulators.
On August 13, at the main base of the Northern Fleet in Severomorsk, a training session was held, the purpose of which was to practice camouflaging ships at the pier. The RHBZ company used aerosol camouflage means, with the help of which, in the shortest possible time, it created a large smoke screen. The installation of the curtain made it possible to close several warships from observation, including the flagship of the Northern Fleet - the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great.
On August 30, a ship group consisting of the VPK "Vice-Admiral Kulakov", the rescue tug "Pamir", the killer ship KIL-164 and the naval arms transport "Akademik Kovalev" departed from Severomorsk. During the departure of the ships from the naval base, the trawling group of the Kola Flotilla of diverse forces conducted mine-sweeping exercises. Leaving the Barents Sea, the group of ships headed for the eastern regions of the Arctic. During the campaign, the ships had to pass through several seas, as well as conduct a number of training and combat activities. In connection with the difficult conditions of the Arctic, it was planned to organize constant monitoring of the ice situation using military aviation. At certain points on the route, new combat units and auxiliary ships were to join the ship group. In particular, certain sections of the route were supposed to be overcome with the help of nuclear icebreakers.
As reported by the press service of the Northern Fleet, on September 2, the ship group arrived in the Kara Sea, from where it was supposed to go to the Novosibirsk Islands. On September 10, the ships arrived at their destination and anchored in the Gulf of Stakhanovites in the Arctic.
Anti-sabotage exercises in Severodvinsk
The next large-scale stage of the long-term exercise started on September 20. The ships and vessels of the Northern Fleet, submarine forces, aviation of the Air Force and Air Defense Army, coastal troops and logistics forces were involved in the maneuvers of the diverse forces. The exercise was attended by 12 ships, about 10 support vessels and an unnamed number of submarines. The first stage of the new exercises was the deployment of forces: the ships left their bases, the ground units reached the assigned positions, and the aviation conducted dispersal across the airfields.
On September 23, the Northern Fleet's naval group completed a combat training mission, which consisted in the destruction of a paratrooper detachment of a simulated enemy. In accordance with the scenario of the exercise, a group of enemy fighters attempted to land on the Rybachy Peninsula. The Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft detected the enemy and transmitted target data to the warships. Further, the cruiser "Peter the Great" and the destroyer "Admiral Ushakov" struck at the enemy's location using AK-130 artillery mounts. A feature of this training was the transfer of fire from a surface target to a coastal target located beyond the line of sight. The successful solution of the assigned task was due to the correct interaction of ships and aviation.
On September 24, at the Belomorsk naval base (Severodvinsk), training tasks for counter-sabotage defense took place. The soldiers of the detachment to combat submarine sabotage forces and means were supposed to ensure the safety of the base. When an enemy was detected, appropriate measures should be taken and it should be excluded from entering the internal raid. Using modern means of observation and detection, the military personnel of the base successfully identified a mock enemy, in the role of which were the combat swimmers of one of the units of the Northern Fleet. Also, practice shooting was carried out using various special weapons.
On September 25, firing took place with the use of Granit cruise missiles. The heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser "Peter the Great" and one of the Project 949A Antey submarines were ordered to strike at the ships of the mock enemy. A complex target position near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago was used as target ships. The missiles launched by the cruiser and the submarine (from a submerged position) successfully hit the indicated targets.
On September 27, the strategic missile submarine Yuri Dolgoruky (Project 955 Borey), while in the waters of the White Sea, performed salvo firing with R-30 Bulava missiles. One of the missiles successfully completed the flight program and hit a training target at the Kamchatka Kura training ground. The second did not reach its goal, since a self-liquidator worked during the flight. The reasons for this have not yet been disclosed.
Missile launch by submarine "Yuri Dolgoruky"
The shooting on September 27 was the last stage of the exercises of the Northern Fleet and other structures responsible for protecting the Arctic. Soon the ships and vessels returned to their basing points, and the coastal troops left their occupied positions to their places of permanent deployment. The command began analyzing the past exercises, based on the results of which certain decisions will be made regarding the further development of the USC Sever and its formations.
The Russian Ministry of Defense regularly reports on the holding of certain training events. The exercises of the Northern Fleet and USC Sever as a whole were no exception, and constantly became the subject of new messages. However, the fact that the maneuvers of the past two months were part of one large-scale program has only recently become known. About this at the end of September, i.e. after the completion of all exercises, Izvestia reported. Thus, from June to September of this year, one of the largest naval exercises in recent years was held.
During lengthy training events, divided into several main stages, surface ships, submarines, support ships, coastal troops, naval aviation and other types of troops responsible for protecting the northern borders of the country were able to show their potential and capabilities. The successful completion of the exercise, among other things, speaks of the real capabilities of the Joint Strategic Command North, created at the end of 2014. As the experience of recent exercises shows, the creation of a new command center, which took command of a large grouping of heterogeneous forces, has justified itself. The northern borders of the state are under reliable protection.
