Russian Warships Head
to the Atlantic, Caribbean
 |
RIA Novosti Photo |
MOSCOW (RIA
Novosti) — A Russian naval task force departed Monday on
a tour of duty in the Atlantic Ocean, including
joint naval drills with the Venezuelan navy in November, a
Navy spokesman said.
"A naval task force from the Northern Fleet, comprising
the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large
ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko, and support ships, left the Severomorsk
base early Monday to conduct training exercises in the Atlantic," Capt.
1st Rank Igor Dygalo said.
Pyotr Velikiy is a Kirov (Orlan) class nuclear-powered guided
missile heavy cruiser, which has practically unlimited operational
range and carries 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck surface-to-surface missiles
with either nuclear or high-explosive warheads and about 500
surface-to-air missiles of different types, supplemented by a
large number of other weaponry.
Dygalo said that during the tour of duty the Russian warships
would participate in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan
navy on November 10-14, in line with the 2008 training program
and in order to expand military cooperation with foreign navies.
"During the exercise, ships and naval aircraft will practice
coordinated maneuvering, search-and-rescue, and communications," Dygalo
said.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier confirmed that Venezuela
would hold joint naval exercises with Russian warships in the
Caribbean and said the Russian navy would receive a warm welcome
in the Latin American country.
Russia announced last year that its Navy had resumed and would
build up a constant presence in different regions of the world’s
oceans.
A task force from the Northern Fleet, consisting of the Admiral
Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class large AWS ships
Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary
vessels, conducted from December 2007 to February 2008 a two-month
tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic.