Northern Fleet moves large warships to Baltic Sea
Combat training will be conducted during the inter-fleet crossing from the Barents Sea around Scandinavia to the Baltic Sea. Russia's navy move happens simultaneously as NATO kicks off its anti-submarine warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose outside Norway.
Three of the largest warships of Russia’s Northern Fleet sailed out from Severomorsk Tuesday morning with a westbound course in the Barents Sea.
The vessels are the missile cruiser “Marshal Ustinov”, the anti-submarine ship “Vice-Admiral Kulakov” and the brand new large landing ship “Pyotr Morgunov”.
Together with the warships sails the smaller rescue tugboat “Altai”, the Northern Fleet informs.
While sailing to the Baltic Sea, the navy ships will “conduct maneuvering training” and arrange “several exercises” as part of the Russian navy’s “combat training for surface warships,” the Northern Fleet announcement says.
It is not said at which part of the voyage such combat exercises will take place, but the Northern Fleet has not issued any NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) warnings for any parts of international waters outside Norway.
Traditionally, in late June and early July, the Northern Fleet use to sail a warship and a nuclear submarine from the Kola Peninsula to the Navy Parade taking place in the waters outside St. Petersburg.
Navy Day is on Sunday, July 25.
U.S. Navy sails Arctic
While the Russian warships sail the Barents Sea, the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer “USS Roosevelt” sails into waters outside northern Norway for maintaining U.S. Navy readiness in the Arctic.
The warship, which is part of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, on Monday informed it conducted a live-fire gunnery exercise in the Arctic, but without specifying the exact location of the drill.
NATO exercise
On Tuesday, June 29, NATO’s annual anti-submarine warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2021 starts off the coast of Norway. Participating nations are Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Norway.
Aviation units consisting of maritime surveillance aircraft from Germany, Norway, the U.S. and Canada are also participating from the airports Keflavik, Andøya and Lossiemouth.
The exercise will last until July 9.
