Russian Navy Slava-class Cruiser Varyag (Project 1164 Atlant) to Deploy to Syria - TASS.

"The guards missile cruiser Varyag will leave for Syria where it will replace Project 1164 /code name Atlant/ missile cruiser Moskva," he noted, adding that the ship will stay there for a long time.

The exercise Indra started on December 7 and will last till December 12. At present, the preparations for the exercise are close to completion. The active stage is scheduled for 10-12 December in the Bay of Bengal with drilling of the antisubmarine defense. In addition, it is planned to liberate the ship captured by simulated terrorists with embarkation of assault groups supported by helicopters.

The Project 1164 Atlant-class cruisers are designed for dealing with enemy surface combatants and providing combat stability of Russian task forces in remote corners of the ocean. The development of the class began in the later 1970s. Four cruisers were built, of which three are in the Russian Navy’s inventory. The cruisers in the class displace a total of 11,500 tons and measure 186 m in length. They have a full speed of 32 knots, a range of 7,500 nm at 18 knots, a 130-mm AK-130 gun, antiship and air defense missile systems, 30-mm AK-630M antiaircraft guns and torpedoes. They can carry a Kamov Ka-27 (Helix) helicopter or derivatives thereof.

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