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originally posted by: JimOberg
Apparently there is a Russian ship that just happens to be nearby for each scheduled launch:
theaviationist.com...
And why not? The Russian Space Program leaders are terrified of SpaceX succeeding and making the last Russian space card, transportation, obsolete. Once Dragon goes operational with crew, there's no other Russian spaceflight service that anyone in the world has any commercial interest in.
However, there’s someone who suggested that the ocean tug is actually supporting Russian nuclear attack submarines monitoring U.S. Navy East coast bases.
Hard to say.
For sure the Russian tug is not there by accident. During the Cold War, Russian and Americans have monitored each others special special operations, military exercises, invasions, maiden flights etc. This is not changed with the collapse of the USSR. On the contrary, close encounters (as the one in the Black Sea) and reciprocal snooping are probably going to increase.