MOSCOW. June 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The crews of Russian naval submarines will conduct under ice navigation tasks in the Arctic this summer, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov, commander of the Northern Fleet, said.
"In the new training period, the crews of nuclear submarines will fulfill under ice tasks, including in the new or temporarily forgotten navigation regions in the Arctic," Korolyov said on Monday at a meeting on the start of the summer training season in the submariner garrison Gadzhiyevo, Murmansk region.
"Our versatile activities in the Arctic will be aimed primarily at preserving the Northern Sea Route as the Russian national transport system and ensuring the sea economic activities by the Russian Federation in this region," Admiral Korolyov was quoted by the Northern Fleet press service as saying in a report obtained by Interfax-AVN.
Admiral Korolyov said that "one of the priorities of the Northern Fleet sailors in the near-term perspective is to continue the exploration of the Arctic,"
Setting the tasks to the Northern Fleet personnel for the summer training period, the admiral also pointed out that "one of the main activities will be further steps aimed at creating a military infrastructure on virtually all archipelagos and islands of the Arctic Ocean for the purpose of creating a unified system for monitoring the air, above-water, and underwater situations."
The Northern Fleet forces declared their large-scale presence in the Arctic last year by two large-scale cruises to the New Siberian Islands and the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. "In the second half of this year, the Northern Fleet intends to continue the exploration of the Arctic, simultaneously resolving its research tasks in the Arctic Ocean by studying the navigation and hydrographic situation, adjusting maps, and conducting meteorological observations," the Northern Fleet press service has reported.
"In the 2014 summer period, Northern Fleet ships and vessels are expected to go on cruises to Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, and Wrangel Island," the report says.