Russia to expand Mediterranean fleet to 10 warships – Navy chief

The Russian Navy intends to build its presence in the Mediterranean Sea - particularly in the area close to Syrian shores - to up to 10 battleships, announced Admiral of the Fleet Viktor Chirkov.

“The task is crystal clear: to avoid a slightest threat to the security of the state. This is a general practice of all fleets around the world, to be there when a tension level increases. They are all going to act on operational command plan of the offshore maritime zone,” Chirkov told journalists on Friday. "Russia will be building up its Mediterranean fleet until it is deemed sufficient to perform the task set."

Story

This is a breaking story on RT right now. It would appear that things are really heating up and Russia does plan on protecting it's interests in the region. I think we may have an interesting month and perhaps things aren't going so well in Switzerland.

reply to post by GrantedBail

NO EFFING WAY.

We know what happened when the US and their proxy tried to test Russia in Georgia. Didnt take but a heartbeat for the Russians to drop the hammer and put an immediate stop to that nonsense.

We all know what this is, its a Russian show of force to counter the US presence.

In this instance,the people of the World stand with Russia.

Will the US, hell bent on invading the ME, continue their invasions knowing that the Russians might react?

Only time will tell.

I'm actually glad they're going. Anyone else?

reply to post by GrantedBail


its getting better or???

It is amazing what can happen when various world powers start vying for control of a new super weapon isn't it?

reply to post by GrantedBail


Well.

Nothing like "saber rattling" in the guise of peace and security.

I have been adamant about the hypocrisy that Putin is accustom to. From the tens of thousands of Chechen,Russian, and Georgian civilians he helped murder, to the thousands of Syrians his weapons have helped murder.

It is too bad the World doesn't see Russia as the Country they really are.

Honestly. What is the difference between murdering civilians with Conventional weapons or chemical ones?

One day the World will wake up to these type of Wolves. Sending ships to that region just increases the tension, and leaves the few there still hoping for the bloodshed to stop. I would be more impressed if World leaders took this time to fill those ships of war with humanitarian aid.


S&F

This is a ridiculous move when a possible deal is on the table. Putin better watch all that strutting cause at the end of the day Russia Navy and military might as a whole is still lacking from the fall of the Soviet Union. Everyone needs to calm down and stop acting big before someone gets their feelings hurt and ends up sinking a half dozen ships. Then Russia will really have a problem.

reply to post by gladtobehere


The United States is now well-recognized internationally as a rogue state operated as an organized criminal enterprise. But what can you do? Like any criminal organization, they'll continue their crime spree until they're taken down. It's not as if We The People have any control over them.

I feel bad for our military men and women, being in this position—many, if not most, of them not even understanding that they're participating in criminal activities....

reply to post by Thorneblood


Are you prepared to describe the "super weapon" in question?

reply to post by GuidedKill
you think so do ya ,,,well then you did not get the memo... here it is en.rian.ru... from the link

ST. PETERSBURG, July 7 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy will receive 36 warships in 2013, an unprecedented number in Russia’s history, Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov said on Sunday.
“During this year, 36 combat ships, fast attack crafts and support vessels will join the Russian Navy. This has never happened before,” Fedotenkov said at the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg.
Russian Navy warships are now performing missions in all areas of the World Ocean, with over 60 combat ships currently at sea, he said.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March the Russian Navy would receive 24 submarines and 54 warships of various classes by 2020.
“As a result of the implementation of the state rearmament program to 2020, the navy should receive eight nuclear-powered strategic submarines, 16 multirole submarines and 54 warships of various classes,” Shoigu said.
The eight strategic missile boats include three Borey and five Borey-A class vessels (SSBN) armed with Bulava ballistic missiles.
The 16 multi-purpose submarines include eight Graney class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) and improved Kilo and Lada class diesel-electric (SSK) boats.

© RIA Novosti.
Russian Navy
In addition to submarines, the navy will receive Admiral Gorshkov class frigates and Steregushchy class corvettes, Buyan class corvettes and Ivan Gren Class large landing ships.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that the procurement of new warships and submarines for the Navy would be a priority over the next decade. The Russian government has allocated five trillion rubles ($166 bln) or a quarter of the entire armament procurement budget until 2020 for this purpose.

WW1 started by some one getting shot WW2 mad men wanting more WW3 over the use of Chemicals

GuidedKill
This is a ridiculous move when a possible deal is on the table. Putin better watch all that strutting cause at the end of the day Russia Navy and military might as a whole is still lacking from the fall of the Soviet Union. Everyone needs to calm down and stop acting big before someone gets their feelings hurt and ends up sinking a half dozen ships. Then Russia will really have a problem.

30 days was too slow, but it's obvious why. The chemical weapons are not the issue. I have no love for Russia. It's 2 powers fighting over Syria simple and plain.

I just don't think they think America would attack them. I don't know, but America isn't one of those countries who would just stop now is it?

How many more chips does each side have to keep betting on before someone calls or goes all in? I don't like this at all. If we sink their ships all relations with Russia will be done. I don't like our options here.

should have posted this first www.theguardian.com... from the link

Russia sends missile cruiser to Mediterranean as Syria tension mounts
Country's biggest naval deployment since USSR days sent to sea's east as US also beefs up maritime presence in region
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Alec Luhn in Moscow
theguardian.com, Thursday 12 September 2013 09.22 EDT
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The Russian destroyer Smetlivy, seen in the background in 2008
The Russian destroyer Smetlivy, seen in the background in this 2008 picture, has been dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean. Photograph: Sergei Chuzavkov/AP
Russia has dispatched a "carrier killer" missile cruiser and other ships to the eastern Mediterranean in its largest naval deployment since Soviet times.

The move comes as the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, examine Moscow's plan to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control. Both Russia and the US have been beefing up their naval presence in the Med over the past several weeks.

The destroyer Smetlivy left a naval base in Sevastopol, Ukraine, on Tuesday on a mission to the Syrian coast, a military source told the state news agency Interfax on Thursday.

The source said the Smetlivy would travel to the Mediterranean with the amphibious assault ship Nikolai Filchenkov, which left Novorossiysk on Monday carrying unidentified supplies for the Damascus government.

The missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, is also on its way to the Syrian coast to lead the Russian force there. The ship is reportedly known as a "carrier-killer" because it is outfitted with Vulkan missiles, that are designed to destroy large ships.

Observers have speculated that the buildup is in preparation for an evacuation of Russian citizens in Syria or even to repel a possible US attack against the Assad regime. According to a scientist working on military research, who asked not to be named, the deployment will put Russia in a position to evacuate its citizens currently in Syria and serve as a deterrent against military actions by Turkey and other players in the region.

"The demonstration of strength, the demonstration of the flag, is an additional argument for Russia to be seen as important player," they said. However, the Russian fleet will not be able to stop an American missile or aircraft strike against Syria, they added

Ruslan Pukhov, the director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said that the Mediterranean force is part the biggest deployment of Russian ships worldwide in the post-Soviet era. However, Pukhov denied that the concentration of ships in the eastern Mediterranean was a direct reaction to the growing tensions over the Syrian conflict.

"The rest of the Russian navy is now exercising all over the globe, including a visit to Australia, and all of these were planned months before and are not a reaction to events in Syria … in the past two months," Pukhov said.

In recent months, Russian ships have also conducted training exercises in the Barents Sea and in the Pacific Ocean near Kamchatka. At the end of August, it was reported that the missile cruiser Varyag and two other ships were preparing to set out for the south Pacific to make the Russian navy's first-ever visit to Sydney and to conduct joint exercises with the Australian navy.

Moscow dispatched ships to the Med starting in late August, but officials have maintained that the deployments are routine and not part of a naval buildup. The size of the fleet there has nonetheless increased: Russian forces in the Med will grow to 11 ships by mid September, the newspaper RBC Daily reported.

The US navy deployed an additional destroyer – its fifth – to the eastern Mediterranean at the end of August. The force could launch Tomahawk missiles at targets in Syria if Barack Obama orders an attack.

Retired admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, chairman of the defence committee of the state Duma and the former commander of the Black Sea fleet, told RBC Daily that the increased Russian presence is a demonstration of force that will nonetheless not be able to match US strength in the eastern Mediterranean.

"The fact that we're building up our forces on the Syrian coast is the normal reaction of a government whose interests there are being interfered with," Komoyedov said. "But unfortunately, the force we've assembled there is made up of pretty aged ships built 30 years ago. To compete with the United States, we need a fresh horse."

no word from the US side as of yet, we are slow to act er react make that do anything

reply to post by Kashai

Naturally....of course it is really rather simple. Syria made a highly effective bio chemical weapon at some point within the past two to four years with the aid of Russia and China.

reply to post by Dustytoad
Two of the ones once served in a war that was US Vs USSR ... NAM, do you think they McCain and Kerry have forgotten that war and the out come , how long do you hold a grudge? This could be pay back time

reply to post by bekod



Notice the current date?? Because your article says getting most of that by 2020. Currently US carriers out number Russia 10 to 1. The air power three of those carriers produce can wipe out just about all the ships Russia has in the Med. Air superiority my friend, it's a bitch.

Wiki

reply to post by GuidedKill
yes i did seems you skiped a line from my link

ST. PETERSBURG, July 7 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy will receive 36 warships in 2013, an unprecedented number in Russia’s history, Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov said on Sunday.
“During this year, 36 combat ships, fast attack crafts and support vessels will join the Russian Navy. This has never happened before,” Fedotenkov said at the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg.

this year they get 36 new ships, the Russian Navy would receive 24 submarines and 54 warships of various classes by 2020.

reply to post by GuidedKill


36 of those ships are to be delivered in 2013, according to that article.
A lot of those seemed like smaller ships but still.

ugh bekod came back too soon.

reply to post by Thorneblood


That being the case it is War.

It is apparent the enemy used Sarin and if they use it again and that is confirmed

reply to post by Kashai


Except i doubt the case that got America all up in arms was Sarin. I think it was the new weapon Syria created and that is what has caused all of this debacle.

Ya know we don't really care that much if Syria uses conventional chemical weapons. Even if it kills innocents we can easily ignore that fact and go on with our lives, we have for nearly two years now.

reply to post by bekod


Not trying to get into a pissing match however I did notice that line but figured since it was mostly "fast attack" vessels AKA Corvette class it wasn't worth mentioning. I figured you and I both know that class of ship lacks the resources to really be effective in a long range situation. They are primarily used in coastal defense and rarely venture to far from home. Not saying Russia wouldn't deploy that kind of vessel being they are lacking in destroyers and cruiser class ships.



Wiki

Dustytoad
reply to post by GuidedKill

 

36 of those ships are to be delivered in 2013, according to that article.
A lot of those seemed like smaller ships but still.

ugh bekod came back too soon.

edit on 9/13/2013 by Dustytoad because: (no reason given)

You never know Russia could loose a few ships and end up trying to send their new 2013 model coastal patrol ship. I do fear however they would be picked off by LA class attack subs long before they ever made it to the MED. Problem with jet turbine surface drive is they make a lot of noise, so much a WWII diesel sub would have no problem picking them up no less a modern attack sub.


I'm sorry I meant Virginia Class attack subs....it's late.