Russia, Norway to Hold Barents Sea Drills in June

Russian and Norwegian naval forces will conduct a joint exercise in the Barents Sea on June 4-7, Northern Fleet spokesman Vadim Serga said on Thursday.

Russia’s Northern Fleet will contribute the tugboat SB-523, an Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft and an Mi-8 Hip helicopter to the Barents-2013 exercise.

The two nations' search and rescue services will test their interoperability in evacuation of crews and aircraft in distress at sea, and cleanup of oil spills.

The Barents exercise is conducted every year in accordance with a 1995 Russian-Norwegian intergovernmental agreement, Serga said.

This year’s exercise, which has a rotating command system, will be under Russian control, he said.