December 6, 200718 yr From DefenseNews Russian Navy to Start Sorties in Atlantic-Tass REUTERS, MOSCOW Russia’s navy said on Wednesday it would start sorties in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, the latest move by an increasingly assertive Moscow to demonstrate its military might. “The aim of the sorties is to ensure a naval presence in tactically important regions of the world ocean,” Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told President Vladimir Putin, according to a transcript of the meeting supplied by the Kremlin. Buoyed by huge oil revenues, Russia under Putin has been boosting military spending while at the same time using diplomacy to broaden Moscow’s influence. Earlier this year Putin announced that long-range strategic bombers would resume patrols around the world and Russia’s long-range nuclear forces have test-fired new missiles. But analysts say the navy, once the focus of national pride and symbol of the Soviet Union’s military might, is still reeling from more than a decade of under-funding. A series of accidents — such as the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 — have hammered the Russian navy’s reputation at home and abroad. Serdyukov said Russia’s Black Sea fleet would monitor the Mediterranean while the Northern Fleet would make sorties into the Atlantic. Russia has long been talking about reviving a permanent naval base in the Mediterranean. During the Cold War, the Soviet navy had a permanent presence on the Mediterranean, using the Syrian port of Tartus as a supply point.
December 6, 200718 yr New York Times December 6, 2007 Russia: Warships Sent To Mediterranean By Associated Press Russia dispatched an 11-ship aircraft carrier group to the Mediterranean Sea, Defense Minister Anatoly E. Serdyukov said, as part of what he said was an effort to resume regular Russian naval patrols there and on the world’s oceans. He said an aircraft carrier, two anti-submarine ships and a guided missile cruiser along with refueling ships from Russia’s Northern and Black Sea fleets and 47 aircraft would be part of the Mediterranean group. The group is to conduct three tactical exercises with real and simulated launches of sea- and air-based missiles. The announcement is the latest move by President Vladimir V. Putin to breathe new life into Russian armed forces, bolstered by the oil revenues pouring into government coffers. Earlier this year, he ordered the military to resume regular long-range flights of strategic bombers. [Me: what would be a reasonable current Class assumption of the carrier, anti-sub ships, and guided missile cruiser? - Thanks]
December 6, 200718 yr Author New York Times, December 6, 2007 ... He said an aircraft carrier, two anti-submarine ships and a guided missile cruiser along with refueling ships from Russia’s Northern and Black Sea fleets and 47 aircraft would be part of the Mediterranean group ... [Me: what would be a reasonable current Class assumption of the carrier, anti-sub ships, and guided missile cruiser? - hanks] Well, the Admiral Kuznetsov is a given for the carrier. As for the guided missile cruiser, it would be nice to see the Petr Velikiy or Admiral Nakhimov sailing with her. Though it could be a Slava, perhaps Marshal Ustinov, or Moskva from the Black Sea Fleet. The 'anti-submarine ships' are probably going to be Udaloy class destroyers (maybe the Chabanenko and Levchenko ?) or Krivak class frigates, though it could just as possibly include the frigate Neustrashimy from the Baltic. It sounds like they're drawing on the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets to put this group together. These are all wild a** guesses, of course.
December 6, 200718 yr Well, the Admiral Kuznetsov is a given for the carrier. As for the guided missile cruiser, it would be nice to see the Petr Velikiy or Admiral Nakhimov sailing with her. Though it could be a Slava, perhaps Marshal Ustinov, or Moskva from the Black Sea Fleet. The 'anti-submarine ships' are probably going to be Udaloy class destroyers (maybe the Chabanenko and Levchenko ?) or Krivak class frigates, though it could just as possibly include the frigate Neustrashimy from the Baltic. It sounds like they're drawing on the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets to put this group together. These are all wild a** guesses, of course. So for argument sake Admiral Kuznetsov Petr Velikiy - Kirov CG type A Udaloy destroyer and a Krivak/or Neustrashimyy frigate. Hmm...
December 7, 200718 yr Author Could be, Dale. Trying to track their current state of repair in any reliable fashion is a task, as you know. I had understood that Moskva had undergone refit and was now flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. Maybe the flagship is out of service again.
December 18, 200718 yr Author Finally, some information about the other ships in the Russian deployment: Interfax "A naval attack group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has performed a number of duties during a tactical exercise, Russian Navy spokesman Cap. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said. "A naval attack group including the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine ships, and the Sergei Osipov and Nikolai Chiker support ships successfully performed its duties on rebuffing air strikes and ensuring anti-submarine defense during a marine cruise as part of a tactical exercise," Dygalo told Interfax on Saturday. "Ka-27 helicopters took off from the aircraft carrier" during the exercise, Dygalo said. "The cruise of the Northern Fleet naval attack group has drawn special attention from the intelligence services and naval forces of the NATO states," he said. "At 1:40 p.m. Moscow time on December 7, an Orion patrol aircraft of the Norwegian Air Force flew over the naval attack group. A Nordkapp- class frigate of the Norwegian coastguard forces has been escorting the attack group and monitoring its maneuvers over the past two days," Dygalo said. "The Norwegian ship started escorting and monitoring the Russian warships at about 8:00 p.m. on December 6, and it is currently moving parallel to it 40-50 cable lengths away," he said. The Russian ships are continuing their planned journey toward the Northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Two support ships, the Lena and the Kola, left the Baltiisk port, the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet, on December 7 and will soon join the Northern Fleet attack group." [Emphasis mine] *** (Sergei Osipov is a Boris Chilikin class oiler, while Nikolai Chiker is a salvage tug (might need him, hehe). Lena is a Uda class oiler, and Kola is an Altay class oiler. (These are old ships). I've also seen mention of: The Slava class Moskva missile cruiser (as mentioned earlier), the Boris Chilikin class oiler Ivan Bubnov, the Olekhma class oiler Iman, and another, unnamed salvage tug.
January 4, 200818 yr Author From Jane's " ... The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, two large Udaloy-class anti-submarine warfare ships - Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko - and an auxiliary ship left Severomorsk, Russia's main northern naval base, for the Mediterranean on 5 December 2007, where they were to be joined by a Black Sea Fleet missile cruiser, Moskva, and a tanker. A total of four major warships and seven other vessels of Russia's Northern, Black Sea and Baltic fleets, as well as 47 aircraft, including 14 strategic naval aircraft and 10 helicopters, were to take part in the mission."
January 4, 200818 yr A Project 1123 Kondor Moskva class? Getting a little long in the tooth. aren't they. As a missile cruiser, has there been any major modification from a helo-carrier? VLS would be cool.
January 4, 200818 yr Author A Project 1123 Kondor Moskva class? Getting a little long in the tooth. aren't they. As a missile cruiser, has there been any major modification from a helo-carrier? VLS would be cool. Hehe, not quite, Pete. The Moskva (ex Slava)is a Slava class guided missile cruiser. One of the pitfalls of Russian ship renaming antics. Still getting pretty long in the tooth, though.
January 11, 200818 yr Author From DefenseNews Posted 01/10/08 11:23 Russian Warships Cruise With Italians By NABI ABDULLAEV In the latest move by Moscow to re-establish a global military presence, Russian warships exercised with Italian naval forces Jan. 8-10 in the central Mediterranean on Jan. 10. The exercises were part of a 12,000-mile deployment of six Russian Northern Fleet warships based in Arctic Ocean ports. The deployment, which began Dec. 5, is the Russian navy’s first cruise to the Mediterranean Sea since 2000 and first to the Atlantic Ocean since 2004. The ships included the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and its embarked Su-33 and Su-25 fighters, destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, the rescue ship Nikolai Chikerm, and the ships Ivan Bubnov and Sergei Osipov. During the exercise, the warships held sea maneuvers under a single command, deflected hypothetical attacks from small vessels, fired naval guns at targets and held communication training, the Russian defense ministry said in a Jan. 10 statement. The Admiral Chabanenko and Nikolai Chiker participated in the maneuvers with Italian frigates Espero and Bersagliere. The exercises were commanded by Vice Adm. Nikolai Maksimov, the chief of the Northern Fleet, and Italian Rear Adm. Ruggiero Di Biase. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, while reporting about the cruise to resident Vladimir Putin then, said that by sending these ships into the northern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Russia resumes its naval presence in the world’s oceans. Russian Defense Ministry officials said Dec. 19 that NATO intelligence units paid a special attention to the cruise, with British Nimrod and Canadian Aurora maritime patrol aircraft following the group of the warships. In another display of the Russian military pushing to re-conquer the ground lost during the post-Soviet collapse in the 1990s, up to six British and Danish fighters scrambled to monitor Russia’s strategic bombers patrolling above the Arctic and Atlantic oceans on Dec. 24- 26, a spokesman for the Russian air force, Alexander Drobyshevsky, told Itar-Tass news agency. “There were no provocations while NATO fighters followed our strategic bombers; it is a usual practice,” he said. Putin ordered the patrols to resume last August. Drobyshevsky said the patrols will continue in 2008. Putin is set to leave his presidential post in May after eight years of increasingly assertive international posturing during which Russia’s economic and military might grew.
January 17, 200818 yr Author From RIA Novosti Russian Navy to conduct exercises in the Atlantic next week 16:27 | 17/ 01/ 2008 TOULON, January 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian warships from the Northern and the Black Sea fleets will conduct joint maneuvers next week in the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern Fleet commander said on Thursday. A Naval Task Force, consisting of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, and auxiliary vessels, is currently on a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic. Vice-Admiral Nikolai Maksimov, who leads the task force on the tour, said the Moskva guided missile cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet, which left Sevastopol on January 12, was to join the group in the next few days. "We will meet in the Atlantic on January 20 and start a joint exercise," Maksimov said. "The two fleets and strategic bombers will practice interoperability for several days." He said the current expedition to the Mediterranean, which started on December 5, is aimed at ensuring Russia's naval presence "in the key operational areas of the world oceans" and establishing conditions for secure Russian maritime navigation. "I think that after this visit to the Mediterranean and France, the first in 15 years, we will establish a permanent presence in the region," the admiral said. "We have discussed naval cooperation with our French colleagues and they confirmed their readiness to receive our combat ships at French ports in 2008, including at Toulon," he added.
January 21, 200818 yr Author From RIA Novosti Russian missile cruiser hits all test targets in Atlantic 19:24 | 21/ 01/ 2008 MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva guided-missile cruiser, has successfully hit designated targets as part of a Navy exercise in the northern Atlantic Monday, a Navy spokesman said. A Joint Naval Task Force, comprised of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary vessels, is currently on a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic. "The missile system used for the launches has no match in performance terms," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Navy commander, said. The Moskva cruiser joined up with Russian warships in the Mediterranean on Friday to participate in ongoing maneuvers, including live missile launches against airborne and seaborne targets. Russian warships will also practice interoperability with naval aviation and strategic bombers for several days. The operation is the first large-scale Russian Navy exercise in the Atlantic for 15 years. All the warships and aircraft involved are carrying full combat ammunition loads, the Navy said. [CV32: Guess the Moskva isn't in too bad a shape? Of course, the source could be blowing hot air. Confirmation, anyone?]
February 1, 200818 yr Author A really great collection of photos of the Kuznetsov passing through the Strait of Gibraltar can be found here.
February 1, 200818 yr A really great collection of photos of the Kuznetsov passing through the Strait of Gibraltar can be found here. Nice job Brad. The bad boy could use a well deck, and make it a truely useful ship. It is amazing how narrow the Strait of Gibraltar is. When I went through in 1990 on Saipan, it was somewhat overcast and very windy, but I could still see North Africa on one side and the Rock on the other.
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