Russian Pacific Exercise

Some news on Russia’s exercises in over the Pacific:

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SERGEYEVSKY TESTING GROUND, PTIMORYE TERRITORY, August 26, 2003. /RIA Novosti special correspondent Olga Semenova/. – The large-scale military exercise of the Pacific Fleet continue off the east coast of Russia. On Monday it involved long-range aviation. For the first time in the country’s history such aircraft were used in military exercises, and the experience “proved successful”, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov announced.

Four squadrons took part in the exercise, comprising Tu-22 and Tu-95MS airplanes and Tu-160 strategic bombers. They carried out tasks on a very large area, from the Arctic Ocean to the Japanese Sea, the minister said.

According to the scenario, the Tu-160 strategic bombers flew to the specified area of the Pacific Ocean, where space reconnaissance had discovered “a suspicious vessel”. The planes identified the ship. Later, depending on why the ship had found its way to Russian territorial waters, the airplanes could be set a new task, whether to destroy the violator or to direct Pacific Fleet vessels to it, Ivanov explained.

“All tasks were carried out and we saw that the use of these planes was rather efficient,” he said.

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and:

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PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI, August 26. (RIA Novosti) — During the large-scale exercise now under way in the Pacific ocean, the Russian Pacific fleet will hold real, not simulated, launches of cruise missiles, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has said to journalists. He is now in Russia’s Far Eastern region and observing the exercise.

Sea-, coast- and air-based cruise missiles will be launched on Wednesday, he said.

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Entertaining stuff!