Ten military delegations from the US, India, China, Turkey, and CIS visited Baltic Fleet (BF) in 2011 under Russian defense ministry’s foreign cooperation development program.
BF representatives paid 6 visits to foreign states in 2011.
For instance, the delegation headed by BF Commander Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov in Oct 2011 and Nov 2011 visited Sweden and Germany respectively. BF officers got acquainted with service conditions of naval staffs, and visited military units of those countries.
In addition, the delegation of BF marines headed by chief of staff of BF Coast Defense Troops Col Vladimir Yeremeyev in Sept 2011 visited 1-st Amphibious Regiment of Swedish Navy on invitation of Swedish naval command.
Also, in 2011 three delegations of BF officers attended planning conferences of joint naval exercises BALTOPS and Open Spirit which were held in Poland and Latvia.
In the current year, BF ships performed 18 formal calls at 13 countries of Europe and Africa in order to replenish supplies and crew rest. Also, the fleet’s ships visited foreign ports during naval exercises to exchange experience and maintain work contacts. Through the year, BF naval bases 12 times accommodated foreign ships arrived from 9 countries of Europe, Africa, and America.
In the coming year, about ten BF delegations are supposed to visit Baltic countries to participate in exercise planning. In 2012, BF ships will attend the BALTOPS joint exercise annually held under the Partnership for Peace program, the Open Spirit joint mine-sweeping exercise, the Baltic SAREX rescue exercise, the DANEX and the FRUKUS-2012 exercises. It should be noted that the FRUKUS-2012 will be held in the Baltic Sea for the first time.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , December 30, 2011; Image: Baltic Fleet Information Support Department