Watching Russian Air & Sea Activity

[AdamG]

"We have always been at war with Eurasia... EastAsia... EastAsia and Eurasia."

China and Russia started a week-long naval exercise in the politically sensitive East China Sea yesterday.

Chinese and Russian units taking part in the Joint Sea-2014 drill will be combined rather than operating separately during the exercise, the first time the Chinese navy has worked so closely with a foreign maritime force, according to Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie. "The mixed confrontation and drill means the exercises will operate more like a real battle," said Li. "It shows the two countries' strategic partnership has entered a high level of cooperation and coordination, even though both Beijing and Moscow insist they are not military allies."

Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong said China and Russia had learned from the example of Western countries' joint naval drills, including Nato, where forces were mixed together. It indicated that trust between Beijing and Moscow was increasing.

The drill, in the northern part of the East China Sea, ends on Monday. Forces including 14 ships, two submarines, nine fixed-wing aircraft and six shipboard helicopters will take part, according to a report on the PLA Navy's website.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/artic...naval-exercise

[AdamG]

On May 8, Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, passed through the Netherlands' exclusive economic zone. Although the Dutch Navy had spotted the Kuznetsov days earlier, it was unable to provide an escort for the Russian warship as it passed through their territorial waters, David Cenciotti wrote for Medium .

Just as it is common practice for NATO air forces to scramble and intercept intruding aircraft, non-NATO vessels are supposed to be escorted as they pass through a member state's territorial waters.

Ultimately, the Dutch Coast Guard resorted to deploying a Dornier-228 aircraft to shadow the Russians through the Netherlands' territory. But the aircraft lacks the equipment necessary for comprehensive electronic or photographic intelligence gathering.

Since 2002, the Dutch have retired their entire fleet of dedicated patrol aircraft. The Royal Netherlands Navy has also shrank due to years of military budget cuts.

This failure of the Dutch to escort a Russian ship through its own territory underscores a wider failing within Europe to maintain a state of military readiness. NATO members are meant to spend at least 2% of their GDP every year on defense spending, although only four member states reached that goal in 2013.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/russia...195206098.html

[davidbfpo]

There is a big difference between what the article refers to as:

..the Admiral Kuznetsov, passed through the Netherlands' exclusive economic zone...as it passed through their territorial waters..

EEZ are not territorial waters, so this ship was in international waters and heading for the even more constricted English Channel.

[AdamG]

SEVASTOPOL: Russia announced Wednesday (July 23) that it had begun expanding and modernising its Black Sea fleet based in Crimea with new ships and submarines, just months after annexing the peninsula from Ukraine.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...g/1278370.html

[AdamG]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Northern Fleet's anti-submarine force has detected a foreign submarine in the country's boundary waters and "expelled" it, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, citing an unnamed spokesman for the Russian Navy Main Staff.

A foreign submarine, presumed to be a U.S. Navy Virginia-class vessel, was detected by Northern Fleet forces on duty in the Barents Sea on Aug. 7, the spokesman said.

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-detects...155013008.html

[AdamG]

Moscow (AFP) - Russia announced plans Tuesday to bolster its navy with more advanced weapons in response to NATO's vow to halt the Kremlin's push into Ukraine and feared expansion into eastern Europe. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a general security meeting that he expected to hear a detailed report from Russia's navy commander about how this could be achieved efficiently over the coming six years.

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-vows-st...175736243.html

[AdamG]

Two Russian strategic bombers conducted practice cruise missile attacks on the United States during a training mission last week that defense officials say appeared timed to the NATO summit in Wales.

The Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked flying a route across the northern Atlantic near Iceland, Greenland, and Canada’s northeast.

Analysis of the flight indicated the aircraft were conducting practice runs to a pre-determined “launch box”—an optimum point for firing nuclear-armed cruise missiles at U.S. targets, said defense officials familiar with intelligence reports

http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...strikes-on-us/