Society

13:30, 24.10.2008 | Primorye Territory

Surface ships and submarines from Russia's Pacific Fleet have completed a three-day anti-submarine exercise, the fleet's press service said on Thursday.

The exercises, involving the missile cruiser Varyag and four ASW ships, were conducted Monday through Wednesday under the command of Rear Adm. Sergei Avakyants.

"The submarines were the aggressor," the press service said, adding that surface vessels had rehearsed search-and-destroy operations with torpedoes and depth bombs.

The exercise involved combined-arms units, including land-based missile systems, which practiced surface-to-air and coast-to-sea missile launches.

In late September-early October, Russia conducted a tactical exercise in the country's Far East as part of the Stability-2008 strategic maneuvers. The Bereg (Coast) exercise ran from September 29 though October 5, and involved units of the Far East Military District, based in the Primorye Territory, as well as the Far Eastern air and air defense forces and the Pacific Fleet.

It practiced the deployment of the combined-arms task force in a simulated operation to defend the infrastructure of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands from possible terrorist attacks and guarantee safe navigation in the area.