MOSCOW, June 15 (Xinhua) -- About 70 to 100 ships of the Russian Navy are permanently stationed in different regions of the world's oceans, Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Korolyov said Friday.
"A fleet can be real if its ships and submarines do not stand at the berths, but perform their functions at sea," Korolyov told the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda in an interview.
Korolyov said the navy has been constantly overhauling its fleet. A new frigate "Admiral Makarov" will arrive in the port city Sevastopol and be part of the Black Sea Fleet in August or September.
He also mentioned that the anti-mine defense ship "Ivan Antonov" was recently launched in Russia's second-largest city St. Petersburg, and a series of six small missile ships "Shkval" for the Baltic Fleet.
In the near future, the navy will be replenished with ships of a fundamentally new class -- patrol ships of the 22160 type "Vasily Bykov," Korolyov said.
The present Russian Navy was formed in January 1992. It currently comprises the Northern Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, Naval Aviation and the Coastal Troops.
