(Reuters) – Submarines from Russia’s Pacific Fleet destroyed a mock enemy object as part of naval drills in the Sea of Japan, the news agency Interfax reported on Tuesday.
“Two diesel-electric submarines … conducted a tactical anti-submarine exercise in the Sea of Japan to search for and destroy a mock enemy submarine,” the agency said, citing a statement from the fleet’s media service.
The submarines used a “training torpedo” to attack the target, the agency reported.
The Project 636 Varshavyanka submarines used in the drills are part of a Russian class of diesel-electric attack submarines, known in the West as the “improved Kilo class”.
The TASS news agency reported that six of the submarines would be built for Russia’s Northern Fleet in the Arctic. The vessels, which carry the Kalibr-PL cruise missile, are 74 metres (243 ft) long and can cruise up to 7,500 miles.
On Monday, Russia announced the drills of its antisubmarine destroyer Admiral Tributs in the Sea of Japan.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Gerry Doyle)