The icebreaker and ice-class patrol ship "Ivan Papanin" of project 23550 carried out artillery firing in the Barents Sea as part of combat training.
During the sea passage, the missile and artillery combat unit crews practiced firing at coastal open and closed target positions from the AK-176MA artillery system. Control firing was also conducted to destroy naval mines and small-sized surface targets, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
"Ivan Papanin" is the lead representative of project 23550 of the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau of the USC and was built at the Admiralty Shipyards of the USC. The ship is designed to protect areas of maritime economic activity and shipping of Russia in the Arctic zone.
The exercises were part of a planned crew training program in Arctic conditions, where ships have to operate in difficult ice conditions and at low temperatures.