Modernization of Russian navy tracking ship Marshal Krylov completed.

The modernization of the only tracking ship (also called a missile range instrumentation ship) in the Russian Navy, The Marshal Krylov (of the Pacific Fleet), has been completed. Its equipment controls vessels, aircraft and ground forces in real time and provides for operations in space. The ship can engage not only in military missions. It will be used by Roscosmos space agency to monitor rocket launches from Vostochny cosmodrome, the Izvestia daily writes.

The Marshal Krylov tracking ship 

The main Russian Navy command said the upgrade of the Marshal Krylov ranging system has been practically completed. Trials were held at Vostok-2018 strategic maneuvers. Upon completion the Marshal Krylov will become a seaborne command post of the Pacific fleet. The sortie of the ship to the open sea was announced before the maneuvers. General Chief-of-Staff Valery Gerasimov told foreign military attaches the fleet will test new hardware." Warships of a completely new class will ensure the control of forces in oceans," he said.

The Marshal Krylov of project 19141 is the only ship of the class in the Russian Navy. It is assigned to the 114th brigade of the Pacific fleet. It is designed to promote tests of new space rockets, the orbiting of spacecraft, search, rescue and evacuation of crews and splashed vehicles, and to detect warships, submarines and aircraft and
report the information.

Before modernization the ship was mostly used to provide communications between cosmonauts and the mission control center of Roscosmos. After the upgrade it will be also used to monitor rocket launches from Vostochny cosmodrome. The ship was modernized by Dalzavod shipyard in Vladivostok. It got a new stern antenna. The main
and auxiliary engines were overhauled, as well as the navigational and radio equipment.

The Russian fleet will get a unique vessel, expert Dmitry Boltenkov said. "The Marshal Krylov is irreplaceable in controlling distant groups of warships. Russia is returning to the World Ocean. It restored the Soviet-era force in the Mediterranean and may also restore it in the Indian Ocean. In this case the warship will be very useful," he said.

The Marshal Krylov can engage in various missions, head of St. Petersburg Navymen Club Captain First Rank Igor Kurdin said. It provides communications with distant areas of the globe as a relay station, the Izvestia writes. The Marshal Krylov is a Soviet and Russian tracking warship, the second one of project 1914. It is designated to ensure tests of new space complexes, orbiting and combat duty of space forces, search, rescue and evacuation of crews of splashdown spacecraft, detection of warships, submarines and aircraft, retransmission of all types of information, provision of communications to cosmonauts with the mission command center.

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