Submarine “Stary Oskol” Deploys to Black Sea Base

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The Stary Oskol is the newest diesel submarine to join the Black Sea Fleet. It successfully completed its delivery voyage from its shipyard in St Petersburg to the Black Sea, arriving at its new permanent base in Novorossiysk. On its arrival, the ship’s company took part in a ceremony that included Admiral A V Vitko, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. The Stary Oskol is the third unit of Project 636.3, built at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg specifically for the Black Sea Fleet. This class consists of third-generation diesel submarines, considered amongst the stealthiest of all submarines in worldwide service, being much quieter in operation than earlier Russian subs. This class is very combat-effective, with the latest missile and torpedo technology aboard, guided by the latest radar, electronic, and hydro-acoustic sensors.

2 July 2016

RF Minoborony

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Editor:

The US Navy, like all armed forces, tailors its forces to enable it to carry out its main missions (which means compromises on this-or-that). The main mission of the USN is to protect the seaborne LOCs of the Anglosphere, to keep it tied together as a single entity. Its secondary mission is to project and support American ground forces abroad, along with the USAF. This does NOT mean that American naval supremacy translates into “naval monopoly”. The USN bases its forces on carrier task groups and nuclear attack submarines (boomers are more national strategic assets, not naval forces per se). These systems are best utilised in blue-water deep-ocean scenarios, with much room for manoeuvre. They aren’t suited for narrow seas such as the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas. That is, no American carrier task force will operate in the Baltic or Black Seas due to the extreme danger posed by landbased anti-ship missiles and conventional subs like the Project 636s. Carrier task forces can only operate in the Med as they can count on landbased NATO assets to give them the additional air cover that they need in such confined seas.

That is, this deployment helps to cement Russian control of the northern Black Sea waters… a control that the USN would concede in wartime, much as the RN conceded control of the Baltic to the Kriegsmarine in both World Wars. To control it would simply cost too much in ships and men… a cost that the USN doesn’t consider well-worth paying. Don’t listen to American chest thumping… it can only do so much with the actual naval assets it possesses. The 636s are quieter than any American attack boat… in the narrow seas in which it operates, that makes the 636 the King of the Battlefield. Keep it focused…

BMD

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A Farewell to Arms: “Ukrainian” Servicemen Deserting to the Crimea

Rear Admiral D V Berezovsky, former “Ukrainian” naval commander… he rallied to Russia and is now a Deputy Commander of the ChF-MF… Denis Valentinovich is under personal sanction by the USA, Canada, and the EU for his patriotic choice. BTW… he’s from Russian Kharkov and is only 42-years-old, so his military career was completely post-Soviet (he was only 17 in 1991 and he became a naval officer in 1996).

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Media sources in Kiev stated that a report prepared by a Minoborony Ukrainy working group showed that “Ukrainian” soldiers desert the army en masse and that many officers visit the Crimea. Dumskaya.net wrote that, since January, 87 naval officers deserted to the Crimea and a total of 559 went AWOL last year; the report pointed up that only 135 personnel returned. Dumskaya.net added:

According to the Minoborony Ukrainy working group, unit commanders don’t look for deserters and even try to keep these cases under wraps. No information about 286 deserters could be found in Navy files.

Moreover, 155 “Ukrainian” naval officers visited the Crimea, allegedly for family reasons. On 11 March 2014, following a coup in Kiev, the Crimea declared its independence from the “Ukraine”, asking for reunification with Russia. On 16 March 2014, some 96 percent of Crimean voters chose to rejoin Russia in a referendum.

12 March 2016

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160312/1036170557/ukraine-military-deserters.html

Rogozin Sez Russia Isn’t Going to Build Aircraft Carriers in Near Future

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On Wednesday, Deputy Chairman of the RF Government D O Rogozin said that building an aircraft carrier in Russia just isn’t worth the expense and bother. As previously reported by the Minoborony, Russia won’t authorise any new aircraft carriers for at least another five years. The state armaments programme doesn’t plan to authorise building a new aircraft carrier until 2020, at the earliest. Rogozin told reporters after a meeting with President Putin on the 2016-20 state armaments programme, “Whether or not to build aircraft carriers is more of a geopolitical decision than a military-technical one. We proved that we had the military-technical capability to do so on 16 November last year {the commissioning date of INS Vikramaditya, built at Sevmash: editor}, when we showed that Russia had competence in building fleet aircraft carriers. If we need to do so, we’ll be able to do it. However, such a task isn’t necessary now”. Meanwhile, as reported, the idea of ​​contracting with France to build the Mistral LPHs came about as Russia needed to get experience with the technology and skills needed to build such ships. At present, the Russian Navy has one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

12 September 2014

Russian Arms

http://www.arms-expo.ru/news/navy/rossiya_poka_ne_sobiraetsya_stroit_avianosets/

Editor:

Many irresponsible and uniformed Amerikantsy are bloviating about Russia building up a carrier fleet to rival their own. Firstly, that’s bullshit. Russia is a continental power that has to devote more resources to its ground forces and air forces than the USA does. All things being equal, that means that it can’t devote as many resources to the naval forces as the USA does. Secondly, the proper countermeasures to carrier task forces are cruise-missile-armed cruiser submarines, quiet diesel-electric boats (the Norwegians proved that modern diesel boats can easily penetrate a task force’s screen), and supersonic cruise-missiles. Thirdly, the waters in which the Russian Navy would conceivably operate aren’t suited to carrier task force deployment, which is particularly true of the Black Sea, Baltic, and Northern (Arctic) theatres of operation (and restricted waters such as the Sea of Okhotsk and the Mediterranean). The Russian Navy isn’t organised nor trained for blue water sea control. It has a more modest mission… protecting the Barents Sea and Sea of Okhotsk fortress areas (deployment areas of Russian boomers with SLBMs) and protecting the sea flanks of Russian ground forces (along with short-range amphibious attacks, such as Novorossiysk in the VOV). That is, it isn’t a sea control force, as the Anglosphere navies are. Therefore, CVs ARE a waste of time and money.

The Anglosphere (USA/Australia/NZ/Canada/England, along with Japan) axis is the foremost world naval power… the Chinese/Russian axis is the foremost world land power. They needn’t conflict. In any case, the USA would waste its substance by direct operations on the World Island. The economic crisis of 2008 was a direct result of the USA waging unnecessary expensive land wars in Asia (whilst cutting taxes to the grasping Affluent Effluent at the same time). General Omar Bradley’s words in 1951 still ring true today… he was speaking of a land war in continental Asia, saying that it’d be “the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy“. Anyone who advocates land warfare on the World Island for the USA without a STRONG local ally to carry the main burden of the land fighting (much as England used the continental powers in the 18th and 19th centuries) is an ignoranus, doesn’t know history, and is dangerously demented. What does that tell you about John McCain, Chilly Hilly, Mitch McConnell, John Kerry, Marco Rubio, Benjamin Cardin, and Ted Cruz? Such people hold power… God do preserve us. However… there IS hope on both sides of the aisle… Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul… odd couple, no? However, both do see the situation aright…

One last thing… Dmitri Olegovich is the MOST anti-American figure in the Russian government… even he says that Russia doesn’t intend to challenge the USA (or its maritime allies) on the open seas. That proves that the posturing warmongers in the USA are chock fulla shit…

BMD

Brisk, But Without Hustle

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Our Ukrainian naval infantry battalion rallied to the Russian side. The beginning of 2014 was a rough time for our unit. In December 2013, they transferred us from the army to the Ukrainian Navy. We had to master the basics of naval infantry tactics and modify our training facilities. In late February, our unit faced a detachment of the Crimean forces and it seemed that an attack could come at any time. When we reported the deteriorating situation to higher headquarters, they kept telling us, “Hold on!” Meanwhile, supplies from the Minoborony Ukrainy practically ceased, but well-wishers gave us a special bank card to have money for food. We felt like they’d just abandoned us to our fate.

In early March, soldiers in Russian field uniforms without insignia showed up outside our base. Looking at their kit, we deduced that they were paratroopers. Their CO explained his orders to us… he wouldn’t allow provocations from either side of the fence and he wouldn’t allow any weapons to leave the base. Military professionals could easily assess that these guys were proficient, well-trained, composed, and self-confident. They gave crisp commands, carried them out expeditiously, but without haste. Their signals discipline was good… everything was succinct and unambiguous. Even the way that they carried their weapons showed that they used them as an extension of themselves. Obviously, this was a bunch of pros. Our contractors tried to establish closer contacts with them, but they kept a correct distance. They kept to themselves; they didn’t mingle with the locals who milled about the base entrance.  There wasn’t an ounce of arrogance or bravado in their conduct, but we were well aware that this was a serious set of dudes.

At the same time, we noticed that they sympathised with our difficult situation. Every day, we saw how the contemporary Russian army acts when it carries out live operations. There’s no doubt that this behaviour influenced the majority of my troops to choose to serve under the St Andrew banner. On the day that we were to choose which side we’d serve on, Major General Aleksandr Ostrikov, the commander of the coastal forces of the Black Sea Fleet, came to visit us. With utmost objectivity, correctness, and in full detail, he described the situation and laid out to my people the choices that were before them. The next day, I formed up the battalion and announced that I’d chosen to serve Russia. Three-quarters of my battalion supported me. Now, we engage in intensive combat training, and our training will soon be on par with the terse paratroopers who stood before our gates in those tense days. The battalion understands that we’ll have to put forth more effort to learn the dynamics of our new service. However, it’s worth it if we can follow in the footsteps of those “polite people” in Russian military uniform…

19 August 2014

Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Saenko

Commander, 501 Naval Infantry Battalion

Kerch (Republic of Crimea) RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Krasnaya Zvezda

http://www.redstar.ru/index.php/component/k2/item/18021-vezhlivye-lyudi-silnoj-rossii