SEVASPOPOL. March 19 (Interfax-AVN) - A command center for a Russian naval standby force, which will operate in the Mediterranean Sea, will be established within the Black Sea Fleet Staff before the end of 2013, a staff spokesman told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
This command structure will be tested during Mediterranean Sea maneuvers involving several Russian fleets in the summer of 2014, he said.
"Efforts to set up the unit's command center have already been launched. A working group made up of officers from the Black Sea Fleet Staff and the 30th brigade of surface ships has been formed. They are currently studying archive documents describing the Navy's 5th Mediterranean operative squadron and its structure. The experience of Black Sea Fleet ships' participation in January's inter-fleet exercises is being analyzed. The Council of 5th Squadron Veterans has joined this work," the source said.