Russian Navy cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the world’s only nuclear-powered cruiser, recently performed a test-firing of its Granit anti-ship missile during a mayor Northern Fleet drill.
Taking place in the Barents Sea, the training exercise gathered over 20 combat ships, some 10 submarines and up to 30 aircraft take part in the final final training of the diverse forces of the Northern Fleet.
The culmination of the exercise were multiple launches of Granit anti-ship missiles on September 19, witnessed by Vice Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, the Northern Fleet chief, from aboard the Pyotr Velikiy. Joining the cruiser in the missile firing were two Oscar-class submarines, Voronezh and Orel.
A video shared by the Russian defense ministry shows the missile being launched from one of the cruiser’s cells.
The anti-ship missile, P-700 Granit (NATO reporting name SS-N-19 Shipwreck) is a 7,000 kg missile capable of travelling at speeds of around Mach 2.5. It is fitted on Kirov-class cruisers, Oscar-class submarines and was earlier fitted on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.