And this concludes the winter training cycle...

In the Sea of Japan, a strike group consisting of a destroyer and two missile boats (at least one a Tarantul, the subject of this report), destroy a group of targets simulating an enemy strike group. The report notes that the boat performed a launch that was complicated, not only because they made multiple simultaneous launches, but because it was an offset launch with the boat moving in the opposite direction from the targets. The report also noted that the target, which was 70 km away, was successfully destroyed. The commander of the Brigade of Surface Ships, Igor Osipov was satisfied, noting that this is the sixth year in a row of successful launches.



Meanwile, in the Black Sea, much the same was happening at the same time last week:



In the waters around Crimea, a task group repelled an attack by a notional enemy. Cruise missile strikes destroyed targets with direct hits. More than 15 ships participated in the large scale exercises. The strike group consisted of the air cushion missile boat Samum, the small missile boat Shtil and two cutters. Naval Aviation helicopters and aircraft supported the exercise. The tactical commander was given complete freedom of action. These have been the first exercises of its kind in almost three years. The agreement to extend the lease of Sevastopol Naval Base has led to better relations between the Slav brothers and means that the Russians plan to hold joint exercises with the Ukrainian Navy.

And here are some fun eyewitness pics of the Black Sea exercises.

Twenty four years later...

Pripyat, April 2004:

The Russian Navy Blogger doesn't have those clothes anymore...

Photos of the day: Alang shipbreakers, India

Via

For more on the Alang shipbreakers, see William Langewiesche's great article from The Atlantic, "The Shipbreakers", an article I read over a decade ago and has stuck with me to this day.