MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) - Nuclear-powered submarines and the Severomorsk and Vice Admiral Kulakov large anti-submarine warfare ships of the Russian Northern Fleet have held a live-fire exercise in the Barents Sea, the fleet's press service said.
"The ships held a series of exercises to practice their main functions, such as submarine hunting and the use of anti-submarine weapons," the press service said in a statement on Tuesday.
The fleet's nuclear-powered submarines opposed the surface ships during the exercise, the statement said. Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters also participated in the drills, during which the large anti-submarine warfare ships launched a torpedo attack on a mock enemy submarine, it said.
"The strike on the underwater target used practical munitions, which is an ordinary torpedo without a warhead. It was found and recovered from water by a torpedo recovery boat after the exercise. After that, onboard missile and bomb weapons were fired," the statement said.
The drills area was closed to vessel traffic and aircraft flights in advance, it said.
According to official information, the Northern Fleet is a Russian Armed Forces branch tasked with protecting Russia's national interests in the Arctic region and other parts of the World Ocean. The fleet's submarine forces are considered to be the Russian Navy's most powerful group of nuclear submarines.