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| Europe |
| Russian-US Naval Maneuvers |
| 2004-09-29 |
| An aircraft carrying group of the Russian Northern Fleet will set out on Wednesday morning for an ocean training campaign. The first to leave Severomorsk will be the big antisubmarine ships Severomorsk and Admiral Levchenko, which will participate in joint Russian-U.S. exercises in the North Sea. The warships will be followed by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, the destroyer Admiral Ushakov, the tanker Osipov and the rescue tugboats Altai and SB-406, fleet headquarters sources told Itar-Tass. Deputy fleet commander vice-admiral Vladimir Dobroskochenko is in command of the campaign. Before leaving for the sea, the commander told reporters that all the ships would be for more than a month in the northeast Atlantic where the main part of the exercises will take place. Such an aircraft carrying ship groups of the Northern Fleet put out to sea for the last time eight years ago, the admiral said. The main tasks in the campaign will be mastering cooperation of ships to repulse attacks of an enemy and flights from aircraft carriers. Other two warships of the Northern Fleet - the big antisubmarine ship Admiral Chabanenko and the nuclear-powered missile submarine Vepr -- participate in joint Russian-French exercises. According to AFP (no link) "The aim is to practice working together in areas such as force protection, damage control, search and rescue missions, choke point transit and maritime interdiction." Busy, busy. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #24 Add Japan and Poland as well. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-30 1:36:41 PM |
| #23 Let NATO die a quiet death. Replace it with US-UK-India-Turkey-Russia-Australia. Plus close cooperation w Israel, of course. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-30 10:41:59 AM |
| #22 When was the last time they put to sea? 8 years ago? I am going to scratch my head and go to bed soon. Maybe I'll sleep through anotehr earth quake. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-30 10:38:18 AM |
| #21 The Indians makes sense in a lot of respects. The Russ are a bit sketch for me. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-30 10:33:27 AM |
| #20 I second Stephen's point about the Russians as a potential replacement for EU non-allies. France is on the other side in the middle east and is now cozying up to China; Blair is useless vs Iran. Outside of Afghanistan, NATO is all but useless. I'd add that our Russian naval entente should consider including the Indian Navy as well. They've been increasingly active in combatting piracy on the Asian high seas-- that's no joke. It's already a huge problem, and will get bigger when AQ and the other jihadists make alliances with the criminal groups. Label the US-Russian-Indian naval entente a force to combat piracy and nuke proliferation. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-30 10:28:57 AM |
| #19 Pappy, would they be capable of participating in coordinated escort duty through the Straits of Hormuz? if you understand me. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-29 11:08:36 PM |
| #18 The Russian group will be operational and fully crewed. But I suspect that there will be quite a few ships pier-side in Severomorsk that won't be as a result. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-09-29 10:43:29 PM |
| #17 Just FYI, Vepr is an Akula class. I have to wonder how many engineering casualties they'll have? It'd really smart if they had to tow the whole fleet back to port. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-09-29 10:09:01 PM |
| #16 I think that Stephen is right. I think that it is mainly about building relationships which can lead to trust and teamwork. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-09-29 9:17:14 PM |
| #15 Not much if you ask me, unless we get a lot of intel that I thought we already had. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-29 9:11:38 PM |
| #14 Mrs. Davis, What's in US-Russian exercises for US? 1)Makes the State Department fell all warm and fuzzy. 2)Jerk Europe's(EU) chain. 3)Jerk China's chain. 4)The Russians sell their stuff to everybody,and this give US a chance to see how it really works.(Those liaison officers heads are going to be on a constant swivel.) 41/2)Nice to practice against real thing. 5)Good PR for Navy may mean more money. 6)Having the Russians along for next WOT campaign quiets all that unilateral talk. 7)LBJ Theory-having them inside peeing out of the tent is better than them outside peeing in(polite version). 8)Baby steps toward US-Russian Entente. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-09-29 9:03:01 PM |
| #13 *poke* Hey! That hurt! Come back here! Mo-o-om!!! |
| Posted by: Lil Kimmie 2004-09-29 8:17:58 PM |
| #12 a sharp stick in China's/NK's eye |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-29 8:14:35 PM |
| #11 Stephen, That was the easy one. What's in it for the US that justifies giving all that to the Ruskies? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-29 8:10:15 PM |
| #10 Why would the Russians want US-Russian fleet exercise?(Esp.since any problems will be out in open?)Could be: 1)Professional developement.Watching US Navy at work is good,being able to talk on formal basis better,being able to ask "why'd you do that?" best. 2)Jerk Europe's(EU) chain.Remind EU Russia has options. 3)Baby steps on path to potential US-Russian Entente.Not a formal alliance,but a strong "understanding". 31/2)Increasing worry @ China.Who would you rather have as ally,US or EU? 4)WOT.Next time you shoot some cruise missiles at someone,would you mind if we fired some too? 5)Service infighting.The Russian Navy is not at top of list for funding.The admirals desperately need to do something to keep the surface fleet alive,so how about a nice anti-pirate campaign?Maybe attack a terrorist training camp in Sudan?All under command of US Navy-yeah it's demeaning,but if we get the US Navy thinking we're valuable,maybe we can get some money. 6)All of the above-it's Russians we're discussing. BTW,the Russians have a class of "Battlecruiser" that carries helos and VTOL a/c on flight deck in back. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-09-29 8:07:04 PM |
| #9 I notice that they've also sent two "rescue tugs". Good you've covered all your bets there, Ivan. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-09-29 7:39:33 PM |
| #8 Andrei, you've lost another submarine? |
| Posted by: Memesis 2004-09-29 3:07:44 PM |
| #7 Will the damage control scenario be a sinking Russian submarine? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-29 2:56:04 PM |
| #6 That was cruel, Shipman... LOL |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-09-29 1:08:50 PM |
| #5 Now they're blips on the navigational radar and may be more of a threat. :) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-09-29 12:54:27 PM |
| #4 More, please. How about Pankisi? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-29 11:15:29 AM |
| #3 My how the world has changed.Less than 20 years ago these Russian CVBG's would have been blips on American targetting radars. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-09-29 11:10:49 AM |
| #2 Such an aircraft carrying ship groups . . . = "Carrier Group" Ain't these translations fun? |
| Posted by: GP 2004-09-29 8:27:32 AM |
| #1 Got a lot of practicing time to make up. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-09-29 8:22:43 AM |