FRUKUS-2012 Final Planning Conference Takes Place in St. Petersburg

22.05.2012 Final planning conference of the FRUKUS-2012 joint naval exercise is taking place in Central Naval Museum, St. Petersburg; the exercise will be held in June. Commanding officers of Russian, French, British, and American warships participating in the maneuvers attend the conference.

Russian Navy delegates Baltic Fleet (BF) frigate Yaroslav Mudry. The UK dispatches a destroyer, France sends a frigate, and the US will be represented by a cruiser.

Russia will direct the FRUKUS exercise for the first time; it will take place in the Baltic Sea, next to Russia's territorial waters. The headquarters is to be located in Central Naval Museum (St. Petersburg) and include representatives of the four countries.

The FRUKUS-2012 exercise consists of coastal and sea phases. The coastal phase will be held in BF main base Baltiysk. Practical phase will take place at BF sea training ranges and under way from Baltiysk to Kronshtadt.

During the exercise, participating ships will repel attacks of air targets and small-size vessels, practice joint maneuvering within task groups and search operations, assist a ship "in distress", and perform gun firing drills.

The exercise's history goes back to 1993. Originally, it had a name of RUKUS (Russia, UK, US). In 2003, France was invited to join the exercise. Since that time it is called FRUKUS and held on the four-lateral basis.

Through its history, the FRUKUS exercise has developed from series of negotiations into headquarter trainings, and in 1996 it turned into practical exercise at sea. It is held annually in one of the participating countries by rotation. In past years, it took place in different regions of the Atlantic (near France in 2009, Great Britain – in 2010, the USA – in 2011).