Russian Pacific Fleet Launches immense 'July Storm’ defence Drills

Russia’s Pacific Fleet has kicked off a series of major naval drills Thursday which are aimed at improving and evaluating its ability to defend key maritime infrastructure, according to Interfax.

Dubbed July Storm, the drills are quite large as they feature more than 150 naval and support vessels, 120 aircraft, 10 coastal missile systems, nearly 1,000 pieces of military equipment, and over 15,000 personnel from all four of Russia’s main fleets.

Russian Defense Ministry

The exercises cover multiple naval zones, including the Pacific, Arctic, Baltic, and Caspian seas and are planned to run through July 27th.

A Russian naval statement further described that the drills are more broadly designed to boost combat preparedness for unconventional scenarios. Similar scenarios have actually played out in Western Russia in the context of the Ukraine war.

For example, off the far eastern city of Vladivostok naval patrol boats practiced how to respond to simulated attacks by unmanned surface craft and aerial drones.

In another scenario mock enemy drones targeted the Russky Bridge in the same city – which is the longest cable-stayed suspension bridge in the world (having a total length of 10,200 feet). The first day of the drills saw a defensive response from Mi-8 and Ka-27PS helicopters carrying anti-terror units during the mock bridge attack.

According to the fleet’s media statement, Russian forces eliminated the simulated threat using small arms and strike drones launched from a nearby warship.

Russky Bridge in the port city of Vladivostok in Eastern Siberia.

In another phase of the exercise, the corvette Gremyashchy launched an anti-submarine missile at a submerged training target in the Pacific, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Earlier this week, something much more than a mere drill happened off Alaska, as the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it spotted Russian military aircraft flying near America’s coast on Tuesday.

The Russian aircraft did not enter US or Canadian airspace, but NORAD confirmed they entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. Still the statement indicated the activity was „not seen as a threat.”