Indian sailors are of high opinion of Russian combat equipment possibilities

The first joint naval exercises of India and Russia have expanded the views of the Indian sailors about the fighting qualities and possibilities of the Russian military equipment. This was disclosed to a RIA Novosti correspondent on Wednesday by a Russian military source in the exclusive interview.

The Indian side took the initiative of conducting such exercises every year and of broadening the training combat tasks by practising missile firing to hit surface and air targets. The Russian sailors fully supported the idea.

The present exercises were conducted in two stages - from May 22 to 23 in the Arabian Sea with the participation of the Indian Western Fleet, and on June 1-2 in the Bay of Bengal with the participation of the Indian Eastern Fleet.

From the Russian side, the following ships took part in the exercises under the flag of deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Yevgeny Orlov: the missile cruiser Moskva, the flag-ship of the Black Sea Fleet; two big anti-submarine ships of the Pacific Fleet - Admiral Panteleyev and Marshal Shaposhnikov, as well as tanker Vladimir Kolechitsky.

The crews of the fleets of the two countries practised joint manoeuvring, the fight against submarines of the theoretical enemy, hitting marine and air targets, and rescuing crews at sea with the help of ship-borne helicopters.