Russia, France Finished Joint Exercise in Barents Sea

18.06.2012 The PACEX joint Russo-French naval exercise finished on June 18 in the Barents Sea, reported Northern Fleet (NF) spokesman Capt 2 Rank Yevgeny Kirillov. The maneuvers were attended by NF landing ship Alexander Otrakovsky and French frigate De Grasse.

"Main purpose of the exercise was practicing interoperability between warships of the two countries in order to act jointly in critical regions worldwide", Kirillov said.

According to him, the participating ships repelled attacks of fast-speed boats, fired at sea surface targets, practiced joint maneuvering, held communication and data exchange drills.

"The most difficult was an episode of underway transshipment. The ships heading alongside approached each other to 50 meters", pointed out the NF spokesman.

The exercise was directed in turn by Russian and French commands. Small-size sea target firing drills was led by the French party. Using Utyos and Kalashnikov heavy machine guns, Russian marines were first who effectively hit all targets planted by the French frigate.

Another noteworthy episode was air drill with Russian and French deck-based helicopters. Sea Lynx took off the French frigate, and NF naval air force was represented by Ka-27PS search-and-rescue helicopter. Russian and French pilots practiced nonstop evacuation of "suffered" crewmembers needed for emergency first aid.

When the exercise was over, French frigate De Grasse left Russian territorial waters and set a course for the Baltic Sea where her crew will soon participate in the FRUKUS-2012 joint exercise.

Joint naval maneuvers in the Barents Sea were the closing phase of the French warship's call at the NF main base Severomorsk. Visit of frigate De Grasse was held in June 11-15 under the Russian-French naval cooperation program.

The last PACEX exercise with French Navy took place in 2010. At that time, Russia was represented by NF nuclear-powered missile cruiser Petr Veliky, reports ITAR-TASS.