VLADIVOSTOK. Oct 31 (Interfax) - Russian Pacific Fleet air crews have practiced searching for and destroying a mock enemy submarine over the Pacific Ocean.
"In line with the Pacific Fleet's combat training plan, Tupolev Tu-142M3 and Ilyushin Il-38 antisubmarine aircraft performed training flights to practice complex piloting skills in the Primorye Territory and in Kamchatka," the Pacific Fleet press service said on Thursday.
During the flights, the crews of two pairs of Tu-142 and Il-38 antisubmarine aircraft practiced searching for, identifying, tracking, and destroying submarines of the mock enemy.
In the course of a more than eight-hour-long flight, the pilots employed radar and sonar detection systems, deployed buoys, and received and analyzed information from them. The antisubmarine aircraft delivered a simulated strike upon an enemy submarine in the planned zone.
The Tu-142M3 and Il-38 crews also performed a number of flights to train the maximum possible flight duration.
The pilots practiced flights over a featureless terrain and interoperability while piloting aircraft in the absence of ground radio navigation systems.
Marine air crews also provided a tactical background for the Pacific Fleet's air defense systems and the Eastern Military District's Air and Air Defense Forces Army to conduct training.