Commander Aleksandrs Pavlovics: Commander of the Latvian Navy

摘要

Most of the patrol and mine-countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) that comprise the bulk of Latvia's frontline fleet date back to the Cold War days of the 1960s, when the 64,750 km~2 territory was an integral part of the former Soviet Union. When the Russian military pulled out in the aftermath of Latvian independence in 1991, the nation of 2.3 million people had to quickly create its own armed forces. When it came to warships, second-hand purchases were the only option for the cash-strapped country.