Russian navy in show of strength with 26 new ships this year

 

Russia’s navy will deploy a total of 26 new ships this year including four carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Sunday as the country celebrated Navy Day with a show of strength.

11 Russian Warships Leave Syrian Port To Conduct Exercises

 

Update: The Russian warships leaving port has been reported as a drill, as InterFax reports:

Russian Navy ships, starting from April 11, will conduct exercises near the coast of Syria, follow from the international notification for aviation personnel (NOTAM) and navigational warning for seafarers.

The reports contain the coordinates of the closed area, as well as the conduct of training shooting there.

Russian warship flotilla now off Syrian coast: military

 

A flotilla of Russian warships is now in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast after being sent to reinforce Russia’s military in the area, a naval commander said on state television.

The commander of Russia’s flagship Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, Sergei Artamonov, said via videolink that the ships are now in the “designated zone… in the eastern Mediterranean” and “are now jointly carrying out tasks, manoeuvering to the west of the Syrian coast”.

Norwegian surveillance photos show Russian warships, said to be bound for Syria

Photos of the vessels, which include the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the Pyotr Velikiy battle cruiser, were taken near Andoya island, in northern Norway on Monday.

Russia sends cruise missile ships to Mediterranean

The Russian Buyan-M corvette Zelyony Dol, seen returning from the Mediterranean in September. (Russian Ministry of Defence)

 

Three Russians warships, including two armed with long-range land-attack cruise missiles, have been sent to the Mediterranean.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported on 5 October that the Black Sea Fleet’s Buyan-M class corvettes Serpukhov and Zelyony Dol had left their home port of Sevastopol on 4 October and were en route to the Mediterranean.

First ever Israeli-Russian war game is coming

Video available for viewing at the source.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu decided at their June 7 meeting in Moscow to deepen the military ties between the Russian and Israeli armed forces, debkafile reports exclusively from is military and intelligence sources. It was a historic decision that spells the end of the IDF’s unique relationship with the US military.

The head of the IDF’s military intelligence branch, Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi, and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen also participated in the meeting.

Russia sending reinforcements, military equipment to Syria

This is what a Russian ‘pullout’ looks like.

Please see the source for the video.

 

Analysis of the movements of warships and cargo ships from Russia to Syria reveals that Moscow is increasing the pace of its support for the Syrian regime, despite President Vladimir Putin’s March 14 announcement that the Russian military would reduce its presence in the Middle East.

Navy chief warns of Russian military expansion in Australia’s neighbourhood

Australia’s Navy chief has warned that Russia’s military will “significantly” increase its influence in this region over the next few years, as former Soviet figures in Moscow try to re-establish the nation’s once-powerful Cold War position.

In a wide-ranging address to the Lowy Institute, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett reflected on the Russian Navy’s deployment of four warships near Australia last year, ahead of the G20 summit in Brisbane.

NATO’s Southern Strategy

BRUSSELS/BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Own report) – The leading foreign policy journal of Germany is debating NATO’s utility. Today, the utility of the Alliance is “unclear,” according to the latest edition of “Internationale Politik.” Countries in Europe and North America could solve their “security” problems without NATO, whereas – this should be conceded – NATO has done great damage to relations with Russia. In light of the EU’s military policy, Washington should encourage the EU to “defend itself,” says the author, an expert in an influential US think tank. While “Internationale Politik” is raising fundamental questions, NATO is opening a debate on a new “southern strategy.” Since Russia is expanding its naval presence in the Mediterranean and establishing new military bases in Syria, the Mediterranean “is a contested space,” according to NATO circles. The deployment of drones in Sicily has been announced, along with plans to intensify cooperation with the countries of the region. “Advisers” are already active in Tunisia, Jordan and Iraq and should also be sent to Libya as soon as possible. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that the debate will be continued at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, scheduled for early December.

As Russia Bombs Syria, U.S. Pulls Aircraft Carrier Out of Persian Gulf

Please see the source for the video.

 

As Russian warships rain down cruise missiles as part of its military strike in Syria, there’s now a glaring absence in the region: For the first time since 2007, the U.S. Navy has no aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

Military officials said Thursday that they’ve pulled the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is home to about 5,000 service members and 65 combat planes, so that it can undergo maintenance. The ship officially exited the gulf around 11 p.m. ET. The temporary measure is also the result of mandatory budget cuts.

Russia launches CRUISE MISSILES ‘at ISIS’ from warships 900 miles away as Syrian ground troops begin major offensive supported by Putin’s bombers

• Four warships based in Caspian Sea launched 26 strikes on 11 ISIS targets
• Russian defence minister insists the missiles did not hit any civilian areas
• Comes as Assad’s troops pushed into two provinces backed by jet strikes
• ISIS does not hold any territory in the areas where the fighting is underway
• U.S. NATO chief praises Russia’s ‘impressive’ military presence in Syria

Russian warships joined the conflict in Syria with a volley of cruise missile attacks on Islamic State as Syrian government troops launched a major ground offensive supported by Moscow air strikes.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Vladimir Putin in televised remarks that four ships based 900 miles away in the Caspian Sea had launched 26 missiles – and claimed they would strike 11 ISIS targets.

Video released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows the warships launching the missiles which Shoigu insisted destroyed all the targets and did not hit any civilian areas. 

Putin’s offer to shield & develop Israel’s gas fields predated Russia’s military buildup in Syria

A multibillion Russian investment in the field would make it a Russian project which neither Syria nor Hizballah would dare attack, even though it belongs to Israel.

But now the situation has assumed a different face. Russian forces are streaming to Latakia, and Moscow has declared the area from Tartous, Syria up to Cyprus closed to shipping and air traffic from Sept. 15 to Oct. 7 in view of a “military exercise including test firings of guided missiles” from Russian warships.

Russian Warships Dock In Iran for War Training

Iranian military leader: ‘Only the dead body of the American troops realizes the power of’ Iran

Two Russian warships have docked in northern Iran for a series of naval training exercises with the Islamic Republic, according to Persian-language reports translated by the CIA’s Open Source Center.

…

“The [Russian] warships, Volgodonsk and Makhachkala docked in Anzali Port [near the Caspian Sea], in the fourth naval zone, on the afternoon of 9 August,” the report says.

Russian spy plane spotted over LANCASHIRE: Shock sighting as tensions with Putin boil over

A RUSSIAN spy plane has been spotted flying low over Lancashire as tensions between Vladimir Putin and the West mount to near emergency levels.

The Antonov An-30, armed with five high-resolution cameras, was spotted by photographer Steve Bradley, 41, who was astonished to see it over his garden in Colne, Lancashire.

It comes as British Typhoon jets were forced to intercept a Russian spy plane last week and escort it away from UK airspace.

In the last month, three Russian warships have been monitored sailing through the English Channel.

Russian ships in old Arctic NATO base set alarms bells ringing

 

The rocky relations have led some to criticise the shutting down of Olavsvern Naval Base, a massive complex burrowed into a mountain near the northern town of Tromsoe, that has been closed since 2009.

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“We sold the only base worthy of the name that we had up there. It’s pure madness,” former vice admiral Einar Skorgen, who commanded Norway’s northern forces, told AFP.

Skorgen and other critics say Norway has robbed itself of a crucial foothold in the far north, forcing its submarines to travel hundreds of extra miles from their bases to defend the region.