The Russian Black Sea Fleet announced the deployment of a minesweeper to the Mediterranean Sea to join the permanent operational group of the Russian Navy in the region.
According to the Russian news agency Novosti, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet confirmed today, Saturday, that the crew of the minesweeper "Ivan Antonov," part of the fleet, has begun crossing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits towards the Mediterranean Sea. The commander stated that the ship will join the permanent operational group of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean.
It is noteworthy that the minesweeper Ivan Antonov was built on January 25, 2017, at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard and launched on April 25, 2018, after a construction contract was signed in April 2014. The "Ivan Antonov" project 12700 is designed to detect and destroy mines at a safe distance and possesses high maneuverability, featuring the largest hull made of homogeneous fibreglass in the world, in addition to high durability.
The length of the "Antonov" ship is 61 meters, with a displacement of 890 tons, and a speed of 16.5 knots. The crew of the minesweeper consists of 44 personnel.
It is worth mentioning that Ivan Antonov conducted drills with a detachment of large landing ships in October of last year. The Russian minesweeper completed exercises escorting a detachment of large landing ships through minefields, and prior to heading to sea, the crew carried out a series of procedures to prepare the ship for combat and navigation, while the ship's air defense crew engaged in repelling attacks from training enemy aerial assets.
During the drills, the ship's crew executed tasks related to mine reconnaissance and opened a passage through enemy training minefields for a detachment of three large landing ships. In the second stage of the exercises, the ship's crew traversed a mine danger zone along a prepared route, and following this stage, the ship's artillery sections conducted combat firing at floating mine replicas.
It is noted that the exercises were carried out according to the combat training plan of the Black Sea Fleet.
