Itar-Tass, KURE /Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan: Russia's Pacific Fleet warships hold joint exercises with the navies of a number of countries of the Asian-Pacific region, navy officials on a friendly call to Japan said.
The drills do not involve North Korea, which has not taken part in such maneuvers since Soviet times. “Contacts with North Korea are reduced to ships' calls to ports,” representatives of the Pacific Fleet's command told Itar-Tass.
The Pacific Fleet commanders arrived in Japan with a squadron of ships led by the big anti-submarine vessel Marshall Shaposhnikov, which moored at Japan's Kure naval base near Hiroshima on Tuesday.
“We engage in active cooperation, including joint drills with the United States, China, South Korea and Japan,” Russia's Maritime squadron commander Rear Admiral Sergei Avramenko said.
In February, Russia held a joint sea rescue drill with South Korea. Taking part in the exercise were seven vessels from each country.
Captain of the Marshall Shaposhnikov Andrei Nelidin told Itar-Tass about his experience when he took part in a naval exercise with North Korea in the late 1980s. The drill included joint sailing and simulated attacks.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov was one of the Russian warships that took part in a large drill with the Indian navy in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in the summer of 2003.
In the course of the exercise, the parties practiced missile shooting, artillery shooting at towed targets, engaged in search for submarines and made plane and helicopter flights.
The Russian anti-submarine ship also participated in the joint anti-terrorist exercise with the United States near the Hawaiian Islands, and then off the coast of Japan in Sanger Strait, in October-November of 2003.
Taking part in this drill for the USA were two warships, one from a base in Hawaii and one from the Yokosuka naval base.
