NAVAL BRIEF 04 December 02nd, 2016 by LeDahu
Naval Briefing 01 November 9th, 2016
Naval Briefing 02 November 14th, 2016
NAVAL BRIEF 03 November 22nd, 2016
In his annual speech to the Federal Assembly, President Putin stated, “the army and Navy proved, that is able to effectively work away from their permanent locations”.
Syrian campaign update
The Russian MOD finally confirmed the participation of the Admiral Grigorovich frigate and the missile ships Serpukhov and Zeleny Dol in Kalibr cruise missile launches against terrorist locations in Syria.
If there was one ship that deserves a mention, it goes to the Russian Navy’s Krivak II Class frigate “PYTLIVY», (Pennant 868). It finally returned home after 114 days on Mediterranean deployment. Not exactly the longest time on station, that goes to the Varyag from the Pacific fleet, reportedly still in the eastern Med since January 2016.
The media reported that the Hmeymim air base is also being expanded: (I think that this has been the case since the start of the Russian operations in Syria).
After somewhat discreet & delicate negotiations, Iran has offered the use of the Hamadan airbase, with an interesting condition: “in case the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier departs Syrian shores for a new mission.”
US State Dept spokesman Mark Toner asked other countries to not supply tankers/ Russia navy with fuel that are involved in the Syria campaign. This comes on the back of the claims made in the press that Russian tankers are breaking the EU sanctions on Syria. Probably this is actually something to do with the fact that one Russian tanker came into Limassol last week.
Exclusive: Russian tankers defy EU ban to smuggle jet fuel to Syria – sources https://t.co/bYrQ35cOLS
— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) November 22, 2016
Predictably, the response to the US & EU whine on Russian tanker needs to be filed under “Russian understatements”: don’t get in our way of fighting terrorists if you won’t.
Russian Navy Modernisation
The last of the first batch of Varshavyanka class, the KILO-III diesel electric submarine Kolpino has been officially handed over to the Russian Navy in St Petersburg.
According to RIA, the frigate “Admiral Makarov” has just completed trials in the Barents Sea and is expected in the Baltic. In other news Russian shipyards will start building a number of Lider-class destroyers at the same time. Likewise thee Russian Navy plans to have 6 additional Su-30SM fighter jets in service and also 2 Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft & 10 helicopters by the end of the year, by the end of 2016, Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Korolev said. This might include the new Arctic version of MIL-8. Read more:
TASS reported that the carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” got recognized as one of the best units of the Northern Fleet. (in Russian).
Russia has begun deploying an all-encompassing maritime surveillance system, (SOSUS type), called ‘Harmony’. The system includes robotic autonomous seabed stations and won’t be fully operational until 2020. Contrast this to the long-standing US SOSUS that has been in place for decades and is found across the world.
The Syrian Express
The military shuttle service between Syria and Russia is going at a fairly hectic pace. Just trying to keep track of the various ships going back and forth is astonishing. The LSTs deployments bear the brunt of the ferrying of personnel & equipment for well over a year now. To give a glimpse of the pace of the Syrian Express: (as mentioned in NB 01), the Alexander Shabalin, (Pennant 110), returned from Syria after a week & recently was seen going back to Syria on the 1st Dec. Similarily, the Tsezar Kunikov, (158), were seen transiting the Bosporus:
Northbound: 7th Oct, 25th Oct, and 15th Nov
Southbound: on 27th Sept, 16th Oct, (?), 23rd Nov
Med rescue
This needs to be filed under ‘paradox’. The Russian warship, Vice-Admiral Kulakov, rescued a Ukrainian fishing boat in eastern Med, going from Montenegro to Lebanon. The mariners’ fraternity goes beyond politics.
БПК «Вице-адмирал Кулаков» оказал помощь украинскому рыболовецкому судну, терпящему бедствие в Средиземном море pic.twitter.com/KEpxKZAvvO
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 25, 2016
The thing that initially intrigued me is that the Kulakov was reported as towing the Ukrainian ship over 140nm to Crete, (Gavdos Island). So it is not anymore part of the Kuznetsov group. Later news stated that the Greek authorities detained the Ukrainian fishing boat for cigarette smuggling.
Now, it transpires that the Vice-Admiral Kulakov has left the Mediterranean on the 30th Nov on a long planned journey (in Russian) My hunch is that it might be heading for West Africa, to carry out anti-piracy patrols, as announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Coincidentally, pirates off Benin has just captured a Russian ship and subsequently taken hostage 3 Russian sailors.
Back stories
- Su-33 operations
As stated in naval Brief 01, my hunch on the Kuznetsov’s Su-33s not flying out from the carrier has been confirmed by satellite imagery, seen at Hmeymim. This really doesn’t come as a surprise, but the defence experts & pundits are “making a meal” of it, by saying that it shows the Kuznetsov is an expensive glorified taxi service for its naval aviation.
For me it logical to use Hmeymim as a forward operations base, especially in light of the report that Su-33s were seen above east of the Shaer oil fields, (thus giving them more loiter time & possibility to accomplish missions). Additionally, it gives the naval pilots more valuable broad range of combat experience, particularly since the SU-33s had recently been electronically upgraded for bombing missions. Videos still show Su-33s, on QRA, on the deck of the Kuznetsov, but in their original capacity as air superiority fighters.
- The MIG 29 ditching at sea
I still think that there is more to this story, given that the ditched MIG-29 was piloted by one of the best carrier & a high-ranking senior pilot in the air wing. I personally believe that engine failure may something to do with the crash and not lack of fuel, since the MIG-29 has a history of engines troubles. [Link] [Link]
Maybe if it the Kuznetsov’s flight deck length permits it, one of these fitted at the next refit might save a $35 million or so plane from crashing into the sea. Maybe it is something to consider first for testing on their land-based “ski jump” trainer, (NITKA).
- Tartus naval base
In Brief 02, I commented on the cargo ships activity that are part of the Syrian Express, well the West’s media have finally picked up on this story. According to the media, the Russian navy landing ships and freight ships are delivering ammunition to the Russian Air Force, (these journalists are not quite in the rocket scientist category, if it takes them a year to make this connection).
- Greece & Russian Navy visits
Sputnik reports that a Greek Defense Ministry source said that Greece “will continue allowing Russian warships to resupply in Greek ports and will not tolerate any pressure in regard to its relations with Moscow”. Evidently, “NATO staunch unity” illusion trick is not working, similar to the on-going naval spat between Spain and the UK over Gibraltar waters.
- NATO activities in the Med
- The Turkish-led Mavi Balina exercise has finished this week, with some of the ships re-joining Op Sophia.
- Ocean Shield
This NATO operation has seen piracy activities in the Horn of Africa decrease quite considerably & there has been zero incidents in the last two years. Hence Ocean Shield will finish on the 15th Dec and NATO resources will now focus on Op Sophia and Russia, (Baltic & Black seas) as well. (Well there’s a surprise, NOT).
One such example is the UK’s HMS Bulwark, which arrived in Israel last week and is now located off Cyprus.
In contrast to NATO, the EU is continuing its counter-piracy operations. EUNAVFOR Operation ‘Atalanta’, taking place off the coast of East Africa has been renewed for another two years. The EU Council agreed on 25 November to extend Atalanta’s mandate until 31 December 2018. It also set aside just over EUR11 million (USD11.6 million) for this purpose.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the Russia will continue to take part in counter-piracy operations in the area of the Horn of Africa. The Russian navy is no stranger to those waters, as it was the Priazovye that helped the evacuation of hundreds of civilians from Yemen in 2015
- The Kuznetsov curse strikes again
NATO pundits & MSM made fun of the old Soviet era Russian carrier, but at least the Kuznetsov arrived off Syria, unlike the latest RN warship, HMS Duncan, which broke down during a FOST exercise. Ironies of ironies as it just happens that HMS Duncan was one of the Kuznetsov NATO escorts back in October. Earlier there were rumours of mechanical troubles for a Canadian warship that also escorted the Kuznetsov.
It is also the turn of the US to emulate the Russian Navy, if we had to believe Western media & experts that only Russian Warships have the exclusive right to break down spectacularly.
The MSM message on the Russian Navy is something along the lines of:
“On one hand, Russia’s military is utterly decrepit; on the other hand Russia’s military is far more advanced than we are led to believe”.
7. More US deployment in Med
More US deployment in Med.#Syria #NATO #RuAF #USNavy #RuNavy https://t.co/SMl16QvmlF
— Scott's Humor (@ScottsHumor) December 2, 2016
Thanks you for your time,
regards.
LeDahu
The featured image: Obama says to a Russian sailor: “Are you trying to deter NATO with this floating bathtub?”
At the bottom of the picture, – a drawing of the SSBN Borey class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
HMS Duncan was joined by USS Zumwalt, the new 4 U$ billion stealth destroyer, in breaking down (for the second time) in the Panama Canal…….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCbwvxKm9i4
Lovely cartoon, self-explanatory. Non-Russian speakers didn’t really need the translation, but thanks.
Is HMS Duncan one of the expensive new RN ships that can only function in the cold waters of Portsmouth harbour and just stops dead in the warmer seas of the Mediterranean?
Nelson will be plucking his other eye out in embarrassment, to say nothing of my career navy father rolling in his watery grave.
I did mention the saga of the UK and US breakdowns in the last naval Brief.
or the french aircraft carrier whose propellers fell off on the maiden voyage
Thanks for the update, LeDahu.
Here is some misc. maritime info that might be of some use.
Littoral Combat Ships Program ‘Broke’ the Navy – Acquisition Chief
https://sputniknews.com/military/201612041048141158-littoral-combat-ships-broke-navy/
“According to Stackley, cost was mostly not taken into account, as the only things the military cared for were technical specifications — and even those were not fulfilled, as one type of the LCS even failed to survive a basic survivability test, which had to be interrupted to prevent major damage to the ship’s equipment.”
This lcs pork barrel scam is really nothing more than a 19th century colonial gunboat, modernised. These are not warships, instead they are glorified police vessels intended to be repression tools against states currently lacking a navy who are not sufficiently subservient to israeli-american dictate. The ships are useless in any sort of real warfare.
See also:
USS Ford Problems Even Worse Than Those of Littoral Combat Ships
https://sputniknews.com/military/201610131046311328-uss-ford-lcs-mabus/
US Zumwalt Destroyers Will Get a Second Look From President Trump
https://sputniknews.com/military/201612021048113875-zumwalt-destroyer-second-look-trump/
This latter article is interesting because it appears trump may be getting realistic advice about the likely effectiveness of these ships, not just jubilant reports on profit record breaking. The z design is the american naval version of the f-35 scam.
Very interesting Vot Tak
It could be interesting to compare the shenanigans of the US military industry, that cream off everything and leave the service personnel with unreliable equipment, with how the Russians are doing. Yes there are big issues with the Russian shipbuilding industry but ships are built to different standards, with little compromise on operability. I know that there are calls to build ships to civilian specifications, but even from my personal experience, that is not desirable outcome, especially for hull and machinery.
For info on the american weapons, this article mentions some talented people who have been working on military reform for a long time.
Winslow Wheeler’s War
A legendary budget hawk retires after 30 years of raging against the machine.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/winslow-wheeler-114795
US Assault Ships in Mediterranean Might Mean Soon Ground Operation
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201612041048150530-us-mediterranean-ground-operation/
I wonder if they were planned to take part in an expanded war against Syria, but clinton’s loss put it on hold for now. My impression is the israeli-american-eu expansion is still being implemented, plodding along single mindedly like a slow motion train wreck. A strategy they commonly use, thinking if they keep the momentum up, they can force the issue.
Some comic relief similar to the sub cartoon here (though the purveyors of it are no doubt blissfully unaware).
UK uses museum tanks, civilians to simulate ‘Putin launching WWIII’ – reports
https://www.rt.com/uk/369179-uk-exercise-russian-invasion/
The public skool bois defeated the Putinian hordes and estonia was saved.
Russian Naval Aviation Learns Valuable But ‘Bitter Lessons’ in Syria
https://sputniknews.com/military/201612051048196551-aircraft-carrier-crash-lessons/
An Su-33 now lost, pilot OK. According to this article, the aircraft losses were not due to the aircraft, but because of trouble in the carrier’s arrester gear. The MiG ran out of fuel waiting for the gear to be repaired and the Su went over the side when the gear failed to stop it.
There are several videos around showing landings on the AK. One can see there is very little space to land in and the aircraft must snag a cable immediately on touchdown. I’ve read that landing on a carrier is essentially a controlled crash landing.
I heard from a pilot sitting beside me, in a windy and crappy weather landing situation, that all landings are basically controlled crashes. Not something you will hear from the airlines. But if you are still sentient as a passenger and feel what happens during ‘landing’ you will know how little divides you getting off the plane on your own, or on a stretcher… if you are lucky.