Watching Russian Air & Sea Activity

[AdamG]

The Russian navy’s maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean far exceeded what Moscow had planned for 2017, almost quadrupling the time originally allocated to drills, patrols and other activities, amid peaking tension over neighbor North Korea’s nuclear program.
Russian military vessels spent over 9,000 days on water in the past 11 months, Pacific Fleet spokesman Nikolay Voskresenskiy told state news agency Itar-Tass on Monday. This exceeded last year’s sailing time and was roughly “four times” the planned length of deployment Moscow had for its Pacific ships, Voskresenskiy said

http://www.newsweek.com/russian-forc...ensions-734961

[AdamG]

Britain’s military has prioritised the protection of undersea cables from Russia because if they are cut or disrupted there would be an immediate and “potentially catastrophic” hit to the economy, the chief of defence staff has said.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said the vulnerability of communication lines under the sea poses a “new risk to our way of life” as Russia modernises its navy and perfects unconventional and information warfare.
Conservative MP Rishi Sunak warned earlier this month that a successful attack on the UK’s network of undersea communications cables could deal a “crippling blow” to the country’s security and economy

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a8111536.html

Track the Yantar's shenanigans from your easy chair.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/.../vessel:YANTAR

Details on the Yantar
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/r...bles-2kzrxpq9q

Historical perspective
http://www.bryensblog.com/sea-cables-real-threat/

Does your Admiral need a desktop model?
Have to do a briefing slide for Monday?
Have some plans.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/ino-producti...jpg?1462345384

[davidbfpo]

This reporting was probably stimulated by the publication two weeks ago by a Policy Exchange (PX) 48 pgs. report 'Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure' by a Conservative MP, Rishi Sunak (PX is a right wing think tank).
Link:https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-con...sea-Cables.pdf

When you read the paper the biggest current threat is not Russian sabotage (or Chinese in the South China Sea), but fishing trawlers damaging the cables 100-150 times per year.

For the US military there is an issue, the reliance on cables to pass the very high data load for drone operations; cables severed in the Mediterranean in 2008 drastically reduced deployments.

There are only a very small number of "choke points" at sea and on land, which make the system vulnerable. Notably this one:

The location is the single cross‑connect for all cable traffic between Africa, Europe, and Asia. 80% of all European to Middle Eastern connectivity passes through this one building.

Which is in Alexandria, Egypt.

Two BBC reports, one "beating the drum" for this old problem, which has a small map of the cables routes:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-42365191 and a historical piece on WW1 cutting of cables:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42367551

[AdamG]

Russian submarines are prowling around vital undersea cables. It’s making NATO nervous.

BRUSSELS — Russian submarines have dramatically stepped up activity around undersea data cables in the North Atlantic, part of a more aggressive naval posture that has driven NATO to revive a Cold War-era command, according to senior military officials.
The apparent Russian focus on the cables, which provide Internet and other communications connections to North America and Europe, could give the Kremlin the power to sever or tap into vital data lines, the officials said. Russian submarine activity has increased to levels unseen since the Cold War, they said, sparking hunts in recent months for the elusive watercraft.

NATO has responded with plans to reestablish a command post, shuttered after the Cold War, to help secure the North Atlantic. NATO allies are also rushing to boost anti-submarine warfare capabilities and to develop advanced submarine-detecting planes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.0ffdc699d07a

[AdamG]

The Russian Navy might receive the Zirkon hypersonic anti-ship missile during the Kremlin’s state armament program (GPV) for 2018-2027. If the new weapon materializes, Russian Navy’s Project 20385 and 20386 corvettes and Project 23350 and 23350M frigates would be among the first to receive the new missiles according to a report from the Russian TASS news agency.

Michael Kofman, a research scientist specializing in Russian military affairs at the Center for Naval Analyses, said that the Zirkon is currently in testing, and funding will likely be allocated to the missile in the state armament plan.
“Tsirkon [7] is one of the prospective hypersonic missiles currently in development and testing,” Kofman said. “The Russian navy intends to upgrade existing launch systems, such as 3S14 VLS [vertical launch system], to use it, which now fires P-800 [8] and Kalibr-NK. Undoubtedly funding will be allocated for this project in the first five years of the upcoming state armament program.”
One of the reasons that Russia is developing the Zircon is because the Kremlin knows that it will eventually need a next-generation weapon. “Although Oniks and Kalibr are already capable anti-ship missiles, much of this tech is from late 1980s designs,” Kofman said. “Russia is now investing in the next generation, hence the strong push towards hypersonic weapons.”

https://scout.com/military/warrior/A...iles-112652400

Source: TASS http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4823798

[davidbfpo]

A somewhat surprising headline:

Australian air force put on alert after Russian long-range bombers headed south

Surprising as this is 'old news' as it was a five day visit in early December to Indonesia (actually their half of New Guinea) of two Russian TU-95M Bears, long range maritime recce / strike and ELINT.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...sia-exercises?

Given the sometimes close relationship between Australian and Indonesian military one would expect the Australians were well aware of the visit and what would happen. Indonesia may of course just be demonstrating it too can have friend from afar and Indonesia has sveral types of Russian combat aircraft. Note there is no detail of any flights towards Australia.

The Russians called it a 'navigational exercise' and there are several videos of the visit available.

[AdamG]

Russia is in possession of an underwater nuclear drone capable of carrying a 100-megaton nuclear warhead, a recently leaked draft of the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review confirmed.
The weapon, referred to in the document as an “AUV,” or autonomous underwater vehicle, is featured in a chart that lays out Russia's multiple nuclear delivery vehicles.
Pentagon officials warn in the posture review that Russia has actively diversified its nuclear capabilities, a strategic advantage it has over the United States:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartandhp

Good to see you guys in the Kremlin stay up late watching old Stanley Kubrick movies

[AdamG]

Russian Helicopters has successfully completed the transfer of a batch of shipborne anti-submarine Ka-27M helicopters to the Russian Navy.
The serial upgrade of the Ka-27Ms is being carried out within the framework of a government defence contract at the company’s helicopter manufacturing factory, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise.
The first aircraft from the batch of transferred helicopters has already been sent to its permanent stationing site at the Baltic Fleet.
Several of the remaining Ka-27M helicopters are scheduled to be flown to the Pacific and Northern Fleets.

https://www.naval-technology.com/new...-russian-navy/

[AdamG]

The Russian spy ship first spotted near American waters last year is making its way back in the direction of the U.S., Fox News confirmed on Thursday.
The Victor Leonov is still in the Caribbean, according to officials, but heading north off the coast of Florida, home to a U.S. Navy base located in North Florida, east of Jacksonville.
The ship could be off the Florida coast by Friday if the ship maintains present course and speed, according to officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/18...to-region.html

[AdamG]

CBS Local — The Russian government is reportedly developing a city-killing torpedo, called Kanyon, that would allegedly leave a country’s coastline uninhabitable for decades. The terrifying news, which sounds more likely to come from a “James Bond” film, was actually leaked from the Pentagon’s report on nuclear weapons posturing.
The “doomsday torpedo” has been on the U.S. military’s radar for several years and was first revealed publicly by the Washington Free Beacon in 2015. Kanyon, an autonomous underwater vehicle carrying a lethal 100-megaton thermonuclear weapon, is reportedly being designed by the Russians to attack coastal areas, major cities, naval bases, and other sea ports.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/01/...pedo-pentagon/

[AdamG]

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin says modernized strategic bombers will boost the nation's military power.
Speaking on a visit to an aircraft-making plant in Kazan Thursday, Putin said the revamped version of the Soviet-designed Tu-160 bomber features new engines and avionics that would significantly enhance its capability.
The Russian leader attended the signing of a 160-billion-ruble (about $2.9-billion) contract that will see the delivery of 10 such planes to the Russian air force.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/01...ic-bomber.html

[AdamG]

Russia’s Northern Fleet kicked off the year by sending ships from its Kola flotilla on their first artillery fire drill of 2018. The missile frigate Iceberg and the anti-submarine corvette Yunga sailed into Barents waters, simulating a response to a cruise missile from a hypothetical enemy, a statement by the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday. During the course of the drill, the two ships also practiced responding to an air attack, returning fire with anti-aircraft missiles.

http://www.newsweek.com/russian-navy...ry-fire-796875

[AdamG]

Ivan Gren [large amphibious assault ship] has had a long and troubled history. The vessel was first laid down in December 2004 and launched in May 2012. Its sea trials began in June 2016 and the ship will not be ready for delivery until at least late February.
“Gren is a typical example of a badly managed naval project which exist in many navies,” Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at Moscow's Higher School of Economics told The National Interest. “The design started 1998, almost 20 years ago. The problem was that the Navy changed the requirements so many times that the project ran into huge delays and the result was disliked by everyone. So as a result the Navy decided to build just two such ships (Ivan Gren and Pyotr Morgunov to be launched this year).”

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the...-baltics-24357

[AdamG]

Video of what the Russian government claims is merely an “exercise” appears to show a submarine on fire.
The video, shot in the Russian fear eastern city of Vladivostok, shows a large fire and thick, black smoke close to several moored Russian Navy submarines. The Russian government says the fire was part of a planned exercise, but the fire and smoke look way too close to the submarines for comfort.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...ubmarine-fire/