Russia has launched the biggest naval drills in its modern history, President Vladimir Putin has announced. The ‘Ocean-2024’ exercise kicked off on Tuesday and is expected to be held simultaneously in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas.
The aim of the drills is to assess the combat readiness of the Russian Navy and the Air Force, as well as to check their interoperability, Putin said as he joined the opening of the exercise via video link. The maneuvers involve more than 400 battleships and submarines as well as auxiliary vessels, some 120 aircraft and over 90,000 personnel.
The exercise is set to include complex operations involving simulated launches of high-precision weapons, Putin said at a meeting that was attended by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov.
The drills would employ the experience the Russian troops had gained during the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the president said.
The Chinese military are also taking part in the Russian drills. Four vessels and 15 aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army have joined the exercises, the head of the Russian Navy, Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev, said.
Representatives from 15 other nations were also invited to the drills as observers, according to Putin.
Moscow plans to “pay special attention to strengthening military cooperation with friendly nations,” the Russian president said. Such cooperation gains “particular importance against the background of the growing geopolitical tensions,” he added.
Washington is “trying to maintain its global military and political dominance at any cost,” Putin warned. The US is using Ukraine in a bid to inflict a strategic defeat upon Moscow, but America and its “satellites” have also built up a military presence in Europe, the Arctic and the Pacific under the pretext of “containing” Russia and China, he said.
According to the president, Washington and its allies openly speak about their plans to deploy short and medium-range missiles to the islands in the Western Pacific and to some nations located in the region. “The US seeks to get a sizable military advantage through its aggressive actions and thus break the existing security architecture and the balance of power,” the Russian leader warned, adding that such actions “provoke the arms race.”
“Russia must be ready for any potential scenario,” the president said, adding that the armed forces should provide reliable security to both Russia’s sovereignty and its national interests.
The Russian Defense Ministry has published several videos of the Ocean-2024 drills. The clips feature ‘Oniks’ and ‘Uran’ cruise missiles being launched from mobile coastal ‘Bastion’ and ‘Bal’ missile systems. Oniks supersonic missiles are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 800 kilometers and can travel at almost three times the speed of sound.