SEVEROMORSK. Nov 13 (Interfax-AVN) - A surprise inspection of the North Fleet submarine forces was held on Wednesday to verify their combat preparedness, North Fleet spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga told Interfax-AVN.
"North Fleet Staff Chief Rear Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov ordered surprise missions for crews of an anti-sub aircraft and submarines of the Kola flotilla of combined forces. Other fleet units accomplishing scheduled training missions in the Barents Sea were also engaged in the drill," Serga said.
The exercises simulated detection of a foreign submarine in the close range of operations of the North Fleet, on the junction of the Barents and Norwegian Seas. The Ilyushin Il-38 anti-sub aircraft of the guard seaborne aviation base was ordered to take off from the Severomorsk 3 airfield and search for the submarine. The Yunga and Brest small anti-submarine ships joined the search.
Surprise inspections of the combat readiness of the North Fleet forces have become regular, Serga said. The previous surprise inspection demonstrated a high level of preparedness in the crews of the Snezhnogorsk small anti-sub ship, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer and the Ilyushin Il-38 and Tupolev Tu-142 anti-sub aircraft.