Russian Warship Docks in Egypt

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The Egyptian port of Alexandria welcomed a Russian missile cruiser yesterday, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Varyag, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, docked in Alexandria ahead of one of the highest-level visits by Russian officials to the country in decades.

During the unofficial visit, Russian sailors are scheduled to tour Egyptian Navy warships and share their experiences, which will be followed by sports competitions with their Egyptian counterparts. The ship will be in Egypt for six days, and is expected to later join Russian forces in the Mediterranean.

Varyag is Salva-class cruiser that was laid down in 1979, launched in July 1983, and commissioned in October 1989.

She has the length of 186.4m and can reach a speed up to 32 knots (59 km/h; 37mph).

Varyag is equipped with:

• 16x P-500 Bazalt (SS-N-12 Sandbox) anti-ship missiles, 8×8 (64) S-300PMU;
• Favorit (SA-N-6 Grumble) long-range surface-to-air missiles;
• 2×20 (40) OSA-MA (SA-N-4 Gecko) SR SAM;
• 1x twin AK-130 130mm/L70 dual-purpose guns;
• 6xAK-630 close-in weapons systems possibly replaced by Kashtan (CADS-N-1);
• 2x RBU-6000 anti-submarine mortars;
• 10x(2 quin) 533mm torpedo tubes.
Naval Today Staff, November 12, 2013; Image: Wikimedia