Russian Northern Fleet pilots search for enemy submarines in Arctic drills

MURMANSK, February 17. /TASS/. The crews of Il-38 anti-submarine warfare aircraft of the Northern Fleet practiced searching for a simulated enemy’s submarines during drills in the Barents Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday. "The pilots of the composite aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army conducted training flights to search for a notional enemy’s submarines in the close-in maritime zone. The pilots performed flights over the Barents Sea day and night," the press office said in a statement. The pilots employed radars and sonars to search for and track adversary submarines, the statement says. The crews practiced anti-submarine warfare assignments as part of tactical flight drills that involved four Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft. During the drills, the pilots practiced the techniques of piloting at various altitudes, the press office specified. The pilots performed flights from the aviation regiment’s airfield in the Murmansk Region. The flights were preceded by the careful preparation of the aircraft and the runway. All the flights proceeded in the normal mode, the Northern Fleet’s press office said. Read more