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RUSSIAN CARRIER GROUP STARTS DRILLS IN MEDITERRANEAN
January 24, 2014 - 16:26 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Russian carrier group that entered the
Mediterranean earlier this month has begun a series of naval aviation
exercise, a navy spokesman said Friday, Jan 24, according to RIA
Novosti.
"The naval aviators are conducting training in dogfighting, high-speed
interception and improving their skills in flying intricate aerobatic
maneuvers," captain of the 1st Class Vadim Serga said.
Russia formed a permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean last
year to defend its interests in the region. The move was widely seen
as a response to calls for international intervention in the worsening
civil war in Syria, Russia's longtime ally.
The group of ships, led by Russia's sole aircraft carrier Admiral
Kuznetsov, is currently located in waters near Spain's Balearic
Islands.
In August, Russian media quoted a military source saying a group of
Russian warships on a long-distance cruise would soon call at the
country's only Mediterranean naval facility in the Syrian port city
of Tartus.
The Admiral Kuznetsov led another group of ships to that facility
two years ago.
Serga said that over 20 training flights by the ship's Su-33 Flanker-D
fighter jets were planned.
The group, dispatched by Russia's Northern Fleet, was escorted by a
British destroyer as it approached Scotland last month.
January 24, 2014 - 16:26 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Russian carrier group that entered the
Mediterranean earlier this month has begun a series of naval aviation
exercise, a navy spokesman said Friday, Jan 24, according to RIA
Novosti.
"The naval aviators are conducting training in dogfighting, high-speed
interception and improving their skills in flying intricate aerobatic
maneuvers," captain of the 1st Class Vadim Serga said.
Russia formed a permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean last
year to defend its interests in the region. The move was widely seen
as a response to calls for international intervention in the worsening
civil war in Syria, Russia's longtime ally.
The group of ships, led by Russia's sole aircraft carrier Admiral
Kuznetsov, is currently located in waters near Spain's Balearic
Islands.
In August, Russian media quoted a military source saying a group of
Russian warships on a long-distance cruise would soon call at the
country's only Mediterranean naval facility in the Syrian port city
of Tartus.
The Admiral Kuznetsov led another group of ships to that facility
two years ago.
Serga said that over 20 training flights by the ship's Su-33 Flanker-D
fighter jets were planned.
The group, dispatched by Russia's Northern Fleet, was escorted by a
British destroyer as it approached Scotland last month.