May 26, 200818 yr From RIA Novosti Russian 'killer of aircraft carriers' starts drills in Pacific 15:45 | 26/ 05/ 2008 VLADIVOSTOK, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Varyag, a Russian Slava-class missile cruiser dubbed 'the killer of aircraft carriers,' has started a series of live-firing exercises in the Pacific for the first time since a recent overhaul, a fleet spokesman said Monday. Varyag, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, was commissioned in Russia's Pacific Fleet in 1989 and re-entered service in early 2008 following a major refit that lasted almost a year. "The Varyag's crew is scheduled to conduct a series of live firing drills against ground, surface, and air targets," said Captain 1st Rank Roman Martov. He said the exercise was aimed at checking the performance of all on-board weapons systems. "The cruiser is equipped with a powerful array of missile systems, torpedoes and artillery systems," Martov said, adding that NATO experts had dubbed Russian combat ships of this class "the killer of aircraft carriers," as it can carry 1,000kg of high-explosives, or a tactical nuclear warhead out to a range of 300 nautical miles. The Slava-class missile cruiser was designed as a surface strike ship with some anti-air and ASW capability. The sixteen SS-N-12 Sandbox nuclear-capable supersonic anti-ship missiles are mounted in four pairs on either side of the superstructure, giving the ship a distinctive appearance. In addition, the cruiser reportedly carries 64 SA-N-6 Grumble long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and 40 SA-N-4 Gecko short-range SAMs. Two other ships of this class, the Moskva and Marshal Ustinov, are in service with Russia's Black Sea Fleet and Northern Fleet, respectively.
May 26, 200818 yr Author Of course. What did you expect them to say? (I was going to add my own comment, like, 'first you have to get within range of a carrier', but I refrained .. till now).
May 26, 200818 yr Of course. What did you expect them to say? (I was going to add my own comment, like, 'first you have to get within range of a carrier', but I refrained .. till now). Yes, of course. I forgot it wasn't your opinion. Sorry.
May 26, 200818 yr Author Not a problem. I post news articles (sometimes taken from, imho, dubious sources like RIA Novosti) simply for their value in provoking 'discussion'. (Not my place to tell you what you should read, hehe). Its not terribly successful, as can be seen from the large number of posts without replies, but lots of people read them anyway and sometimes we do get good discussion.
May 26, 200818 yr "Killer of aircraft carriers" ...? Rather makes one wonder what they called the Kirovs?
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