SEVEROMORSK. Aug 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The crew of the Northern Fleet's heavy nuclear-powered battle cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) has demonstrated readiness for the upcoming artillery and missile firing drill in the Barents Sea in an exercise involving the Fleet Command, said the fleet's spokesman, Captain First Rank Vadim Serga.
"The Pyotr Veliky will soon head to the Barents Sea for naval maneuvers and missile firing drills," Serga said.
A demonstration exercise involving task-force, crew and missile and artillery unit commanders, and also flag specialists, was held aboard the battle cruiser under the supervision of the chief of the Northern Fleet Staff, Rear Admiral Andrei Volozhinsky, he said.
"The crew showed high accuracy, and excellent teamwork and readiness for live artillery drills," the admiral said after the exercise.
The battle cruiser has a third-generation anti-ship missile system and 20 individual under-deck vertical launchers fitted out with P-700 Granit upgraded high-accuracy anti-ship cruise missiles with a range of over 500 kilometers.
The Pyotr Veliky also has an S-300 Rif missile system and 12 launchers and 96 vertically launched missiles, plus a Klinok air-defense system. Each under-deck drum-type launcher has eight 9M330-2 single-stage solid-fuel guided missiles. The total stock is 128 missiles.
The battle cruiser also has a Kortik air-defense missile-artillery system which provides defense from smart weapons.