M/S Air defence test fire from Udaloy-class Admiral Levchenko destroyer W/S Air defence test fire from a different ship C/U AK-630-series 30mm gun firing M/S Russian Northern Fleet's mission personnel controlling explosions from inside vessel C/U Buttons for Air defence test explosion W/S SSC-3 “Styx” system launching a missile W/S Missile launched over Laptev Sea W/S Missile intercepted over Laptev Sea SOT: Vladimir Kondratiev, Captain First-Class (in Russian): "Our group conducts research and evaluation drills: we examine how our equipment and arms perform in arctic conditions." W/S Pantsir-S1 “SA-22 Greyhound” system in Northern Camo launching a missile W/S Russian Northern Fleet's boats on Laptev Sea M/S Ship-based Kamov Ka-27 “Helix” helicopter flying over Laptev Sea W/S Laptev Sea W/S Ropucha-class Kondopoga landing ship M/S AK-257 57mm double-barreled gun C/U View of vessels from dinghy W/S Admiral Levchenko destroyer and cargo ship SCRIPT The first ship from the Russian Northern Fleet's mission to Kotelnyi Island began journeying home on Monday, but not before testing its air defences in the hostile cold of Laptev Sea. The Admiral Levchenko destroyer successfully engaged a SSC-3 Styx anti-ship cruise missile fired from one of the newly set-up batteries on Kotelnyi Island. The exercise was staged as ferocious polar conditions tested equipment to the limit, resulting in almost every weapon in the destroyer's anti-aircraft arsenal being fired. On shore the SA-22 Greyhound mobile air defence system was successfully fired. Helix ship-based military helicopters, which are common in the navy, were also involved in the drills. The next mission for the Russian Northern Fleet will be to establish a permanent base on the largest island, Kotelnyi, of the New Siberian Archipelago. The Admiral Levchenko is on its way home through the ice-fields to Severomorsk where the Russian Northern Fleet is based.

• published: 02 Oct 2014
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