MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax-AVN) - This year, Russia's Northern Fleet completed the state trials of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and initiated factory trials of the Kazan nuclear missile submarine, in addition to some other tests, Northern Fleet Commander Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov said on Tuesday.
"For the purpose of trials, surface ships and submarines of the fleet performed 46 voyages with an overall time exceeding 150 days. Planes and helicopters made about 210 flights. Fourteen missile and air defense missile test-launches were performed as part of the trials," the fleet's press service quoted Yevmenov as saying.
A Bastion coastal missile complex, which was put on combat duty by an Arctic unit of the Northern Fleet, performed its first launch from the Novosibirsk Islands' Kotelny Island in 2018, he said.
Discussing the training season, the commander mentioned the first-ever trans-Arctic voyage of warships and supply vessels of the Northern Fleet, from the Barents Sea to the Bering Sea and back along the Northern Sea Route, as part of the Vostok exercises.
"The first combined-arms drill on this route was held by the Northern Fleet to practice protecting Russian waters and islands near Tiksi. There was also a unique bilateral drill with raiding elements held on the Chukchi Peninsula in the Arctic," Yevmenov said.