MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - The Northern Fleet has completed a command post exercise focusing on the control of aviation and air defense troops, which began on April 10, the fleet's press service said.
"The forces involved in the exercise have now returned to their permanent bases, and the aircraft have returned to their permanent air bases," the report said.
The exercise involved some 1,800 personnel, more than 80 pieces of combat and special equipment, 40 aircraft, and 14 ships and supply vessels, the press service said.
During the exercise, the military command bodies of the Northern Fleet "practiced commanding aviation and air defense troops when solving crisis situations in the Arctic Ocean region," the press release said.
During the exercise, which was held under the command of Northern Fleet Commander Alexander Moiseyev, "40 aircraft made 91 flights from six airfields," the report said.
"[The troops] worked on issues relating to redeploying a number of aircraft to operational airfields. These [issues] included preventing attacks on elements of aviation equipment located on Arctic archipelagos by removing them from permanent air bases, antisubmarine actions, air landings of marine infantry units, [and] rescue operations involving search and rescue helicopters," the report said.
The participants in the exercise also trained in interacting with long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the fleet's ships. Air defense troops worked on repulsing a massive rocket and aviation strike, the fleet said.
"[The participants] paid special attention during the exercise to ensuring the security of the Russian Federation's maritime economic activity and marine communications, such as the Northern Sea Route," the statement said.
The command post exercise was a routine one, the fleet said.