Russia, Norway Prepare for Joint Naval Exercise

12.04.2012 Planning conference of the Pomor 2012 Russian-Norwegian naval exercise takes place at Northern Fleet (NF). The exercise will be held in May 2012.

During the 2-day conference on board destroyer (large ASW ship) Admiral Levchenko, NF officers and their Norwegian counterparts will determine phases of the coming maneuvers, strength of participating force, personnel exchange, communication and control issues, safety rules of joint flights and artillery firing drills.

In the end, the parties plan to sign the final protocol for the Russian-Norwegian joint naval exercise, determine place and time of summary conference.

The Pomor exercise is the key element of cooperation between Russia and Norway; it contributes to development of good-neighborly relations and keeps the two navies ready to conduct joint naval operations in economically important regions of the Arctic Ocean.

The exercise is conducted on the regular basis since 2010. Russia delegated NF destroyer Severomorsk, and Norway dispatched guided missile frigate Otto Sverdrup. In 2011, the exercise was attended by Russian destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov and Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad.

During the Pomor annual exercises, Russian and Norwegian naval mariners not only perform joint tasks at sea but actively participate in cultural life of hosting towns.

Norwegians every year have a chance to visit Murmansk and Severomorsk. In their turn, Russian mariners toured remarkable sights of Bergen in 2010, Tromso in 2011, and will visit Bodo this year where the main base of Norwegian Air Force is located.