The minesweepers Yakov Balyaev and Pyotr Ilyichev of the Pacific Fleet conducted a mine hunting exercise in Avacha Bay on the east coast of Kamchatka using the unmanned surface drone Skanda carried out. The two Alexandrite-class boats (project 12700) were built at a shipyard in St Petersburg. With a length of 62 metres and a displacement of 900 tonnes, they currently have the largest fibreglass composite hulls in the world - a construction method originally developed by the German company Siemens.
The ships, which entered service in 2020 and 2022, tested both their on-board systems and the latest Russian surface and underwater drones for mine hunting during the exercise. The class now includes several units: In addition to Yakov Balyaev (building number 5) and Pyotr Ilyichev (building number 6) was also completed in 2022. Anatoly Shlemov to the Pacific Fleet. The last ship in this batch for the time being is the Lev Chernavin (construction number 8), which was laid down in 2020 and transferred to the Baltic Fleet at the beginning of 2024. The ships with construction numbers 2 to 4 were assigned to the Black Sea Fleet from 2019.
A new batch of five modernised Alexandrite minehunters is already under construction.
Avacha Bay is not only important because of its sheltered location on the Pacific Ocean, but also because of its military infrastructure: a strategically important submarine base is located on the peninsula near Vilkovo, and a large equipment and repair facility for strategic submarines is located opposite.
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