MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Northern Fleet's Air and Air Defense Forces intensified their activity in the Arctic in 2018, Northern Fleet Commander Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov said on Tuesday.
"Aircraft of the Northern Fleet's Air and Air Defense Forces operated actively and confidently throughout the training season. We resumed regular patrols in the Arctic and other areas by anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft this year," the fleet's press service quoted Yevmenov as saying.
The total flight time of the Northern Fleet's aircraft exceeded the planned time by 33%, he said.
"Units of the Air and Air Defense Forces held 18 tactical piloting exercises and 21 tactical drills together with units of an air defense formation. There were about 2,800 instances of the use of the main types [of forces], 18% more than planned for this year," Yevmenov said.
Ground and coastal forces also held more exercises than planned, he said.
The plan for ground and coastal forces was 110% fulfilled, Yevmenov said. There were 30 battalion and squadron tactical exercises, 134 company exercises, hundreds of live-fire drills held by platoons, about 6,000 exercises involving driving combat and special hardware, and about 7,000 live-fire drills involving small arms, Yevmenov said.