Russia's 'unprecedented' war games included a submarine hunt in the Pacific

Rubin Design Bureau

Klerk Peninsula, Russia (AP) - Russian naval forces have conducted a submarine search using an anti-submarine ship and a helicopter in the Sea of Okhotsk as part of Russia's largest-ever military exercises.

Russian navy destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov and a Ka-27 helicopter equipped to hunt subs took part in exercises on Saturday that included simulated combat and anti-submarine scenarios in the sea, which is bounded by Russia in the west and east, by Japan to the south, and to the southeast by the Kuril Islands, which are part of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.

The anti-submarine drills are a part of Russia's Vostok-2018 military exercises, which Russian military officials have called "unprecedented in scale."

Official tallies include some 300,000 Russian troops, 36,000 military vehicles, about 1,000 aircraft, and scores of warships. Those totals may be the result of some accounting tricks, however.

Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, reviews a Navy parade in Baltiisk, western Russia, July 26, 2015.

About 3,200 troops from China and units from Mongolia have joined Russian troops for the weeklong war games in Siberia and the Far East, and over the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

During three days of drills last week, Russian and Chinese forces practiced repulsing an invasion at Russia's Tsugol training range, which is located near the eastern intersection of the Russian, Mongolian, and Chinese borders. The maneuvers continue through Monday.

The Defense Ministry said Saturday's exercises also included MiG-31 and Su-35 fighter jets intercepting planes appearing to approach their zone without responding to ground control, and Tu-22 long-range bombers hitting targets resembling parked aircraft and warehouses.

RAF/Crown Copyright

A Russian Tu-95 bomber.

On September 11, the first day of the exercises, US Air Force F-22 Raptors based in Alaska were dispatched to intercept two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers escorted by Su-35 fighters "west of mainland Alaska," according to US North American Aerospace Defense Command, which said the Russian plans didn't enter US airspace.

Tu-95 bombers are designed to launch both nuclear and conventional cruise-missile strikes.

The September 11 encounter was the second such incident this month, and Russia's Ministry of Defense said last week that bombers were carrying out missile-launch drills in eastern Russia "within the maneuvers of the Vostok-2018" exercises.