Fighting enemy drones is the new Northern Fleet scenario

The Gorshkov class frigates are the most modern surface vessels in the Russian navy. But the emerging question is how well are they armed to fend off exploding drones, like those wreaking many of the country’s warships in the Black Sea.

Defending against enemy drones is now for the first time officially a training scenario for the frigates in the Barents Sea.

On Monday, the Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Kasatonov sailed out from the main base in Severomorsk to train defending from unmanned aerial vehicles of a mock enemy, the press service of the Northern Fleet informs.

The warships will as well exercise combat readiness for the ships missile and artillery weapons, and practice joint manoeuvring with other Northern Fleet vessels and aviation groups.

In recent months, Russian warships in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk have been hit by both maritime and aerial drones, as well as missiles.

As reported by the Barents Observer, two more landing ships of the Ropucha-class were hit on Monday. On Tuesday, yet another landing ship, the Konstantin Olshansky, was hit by a missile, the Kyiv Independent reports. The damage is not confirmed by Russia’s navy.

The Russian Navy currently operates three Gorhkov class frigates, all sailing for the Northern Fleet based on the coast to the Barents Sea. A forth vessel, the Admiral Isakov, is planned for commissioning later this year and is listed to sail for the Black Sea fleet.

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If Moscow will risk a brand new frigate ending up on the bottom of the Black Sea remains to see.

Meanwhile, training to stop aerial drones packed with explosives and a low profile on radar is the new war games for the marines sailing the Barents Sea.

Last week, the Northern Fleet held an exercise in the headquarters city of Severomorsk where military engineers, medics and representatives of radiation, chemical and biological protection forces were drilling in coping with consequences of a drone attack.