Three short calls followed by a long one. On the flagship of the Caspian Flotilla, the missile frigate “Tatarstan”, this command is echoed on all decks, and signals an emergency. Today, there are several different commands. First, is the attack of the aviation of a fictional enemy, and according to the training scenario, his aircraft tried to attack the Tatarstan while it’s docked. The sailors and officers rush to their battle positions, while the radar monitors show the targets. The command post issues the first reports.
The aircraft, which is not answering the Tatarstan’s signals, immediately comes under the sights of artillery. Here, the gunner is carrying out the orders from the command post, points the guns in the direction from which the enemy will appear, and from the compartments rise anti-aircraft missiles which immediately lock on the aerial target. The Tatarstan is ready to switch to a counterattack, itself, and deliver a powerful blow, and not just to aircraft, but to ships and even beach based targets. Missiles are the main weapons of the Caspian flagship. In these launchers are the KH-35 Uran cruise missiles, which are modern, yet simple to operate. “The missiles are excellent, reliable, and their design is so simple, that even training personnel to fire this weapon is very easy. The missile requires minimum maintenance and has a small amount of moving parts, which contributes to increased reliability,” stated Sharabdin Sharabdinov, the weapons commander of the Tatarstan missile frigate. This computer is both the control center behind the Uran and a training system. The sailors may just be training, but the steps and commands are the same as those in real combat situations.
Despite the fact that in the Caspian Sea, the Tatarstan has no equals in terms of technology and weaponry, the crews regularly conduct training for damage control. In compartments such as this one, sailors learn to extinguish fires and plug up holes. The ship was in a theoretical battle and damaged by bullet shells, the shrapnel ripped through the ship. In the engine room, sailors rush to fill the gap left by the bullets, while being hit by water under high pressure. It took just 2 minutes to seal off the hole. The soaked sailors report to the officer, ” the holes are sealed, the leak has been stopped”. The virtual targets in the air and at sea have been destroyed, and the sailors saved the ship from sinking. The commander gives the crew a score. “Almost all of the staff are contractors, which allows for more efficient problem solving, as the personnel have been performing their duties for more than a month, and according to the results of today’s training, the staff corresponds to a proper level of training, and for their duties, they received a good score,” stated Vusal Miriev, the commander of the Tatarstan. The crew has just one month to fix all errors to achieve absolute consistency and receive an excellent score on their next evaluation. In April, the Tatarstan will begin live firing exercises.
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