I'm a bit puzzled as to the Russian's choice of exercise grounds. The Alaskan front is self explanatory, they must be prepared to counter any
American sorties from Alaskan airbases. Nor is the Volga front surprising as I imagine they intend to stop the coming European thrust into Russia at
that spot. However, the exercises along the Chinese border have me a bit confused as it was my assumption that Russia and China would be allied in the
coming conflict. Now I am not so sure. I suppose it is possible they are practising in the region in anticipation of joint manoeuvres with the PLA,
but is it likely that they intend on moving against the Chinese? I mean, the only threat to Russian Hegemony besides Europe is China. Any thoughts?
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apparently man isn't the only beast deterred by these war games...
We’re conducting a pilot land-based cetacean survey off the west coast of Scotland where residents, commercial boat operators and scientists alike
have reported declines in whales and dolphins over the last decade when naval exercises are happening in the local area. Over the next two
weeks we are expecting Joint Warrior, the biggest exercise in Europe and reportedly one of the biggest navy exercises of all time, to occur in the
waters around us. Nine allied countries are to be involved and a total of 29 ships and 4 submarines. Conducting sightings from land means that we can
monitor a larger area and watch the movement of whales and dolphins in the local area without influencing their behaviour.
from this page..
interesting, but i'm not really surprised... 
[edit on 10-10-2008 by adrenochrome]
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here's an update to the "Order of Battle":
Royal Navy
HMS Ark Royal (R07)
HMS Bulwark (L15)
HMS Manchester (D95)
HMS Gloucester (D96)
HMS Cornwall (F99)
HMS Argyll (F231)
RFA Fort Austin (A386)
RFA Bayleaf (A109)
RFA Mounts Bay (L3008)
HMS Turbulent (S87)
Denmark
HDMS Thetis (F357)
France
FS Tonnere (L9014)
FS Jaguar (A750)
FS Lion (A755)
Netherlands
HNLMS Johan de Witt (L801)
HNLMS Amsterdam (A836)
HNLMS Rotterdam (L800)
HNLMS Maasluis (M856)
HNLMS Makkum (M857)
HNLMS Dolfijn (S808)
Norway
KNM Utsira (S301)
United States
USS Mitscher (DDG 57)
USS Doyle (FFG 39)
USS Klakring (FFG 42)
USS Hawes (FFG 53)
USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195)
USS Jacksonville (SSN 699)
Still an incomplete list.
Interesting to note, SNMG1, SNMG2, SNMCMG1 and SNMCMG2 all completed NATO Response Force 12 (NRF12) exercise yesterday
[the 10th]. The exercise was two weeks long. Can anyone recall the last time all four major NATO groups exercised together? Had to have been many
years ago.
informationdissemination.blogspot.com...
[edit on 13-10-2008 by adrenochrome]
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