Turning the Pacific Fleet towards the Arctic
On August 27, the Russian Pacific Fleet kicked off a large scale naval exercise in the Bering Strait, separating Russia from Alaska. The exercise, which involved over 15 warships, saw the deployment of the Pacific Fleet's flagship, the Slava class missile cruiser RFS Varyag, and the Oscar II class SSGN RFS Omsk. Other capital ships involved Udaloy class destroyers and Steregushchy class frigates. The exercise area was reported to be at the southern entrance of the Bering Strait. The most notable event during this exercise was the launch of anti-ship cruise missiles against simulated targets during an anti-surface warfare exercise. The RFS Varyag launched one of her P-1000 Vulcan anti-ship cruise missiles while the submarine RFS Omsk launched a P-700 Granit missile from a submerged position. Both ships reportedly struck their simulated targets, located at a distance of respectively 450 and 320 kilometres away. RFS Varyag launching a P-1000 Vulcan AShCM What makes this exercise relev...