Watching Russian Air & Sea Activity

[AdamG]

A Russian intelligence-gathering ship has been operating off the U.S. East Coast and near the Gulf of Mexico for the past month, the Pentagon said Thursday.

“We are aware that the Russian ships Viktor Leonov and Nikolay Chiker are currently operating in waters that are beyond U.S. territorial seas but near Cuba,” said Lt. Col. Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman. “We respect the freedom of all nations, as reflected in international law, to operate military vessels beyond the territorial seas of other nations.”

The Leonov is an intelligence gathering ship outfitted with high-tech electronic spying gear. The Chiker is an ocean-going naval tug that has been accompanying the spy ship on its mission.

http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...ting-near-u-s/

For Memory Refresher, see
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...4&postcount=17

[AdamG]

The Royal Navy has sent a Portsmouth-based warship to track a Russian naval vessel as it approached British waters, it has been revealed.

HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, tracked and met up with the Vice Admiral Kulakov, a large Russian destroyer, as it sailed past the UK.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/def...ters-1-6017646

Dragon deployed from Portsmouth last week to pre-position well north of Scotland in good time to respond to the Udaloy-Class destroyer’s deployment. She made contact with the Kulakov and is keeping an eye on the Russian ship’s transit south.

http://www.marinelink.com/news/milit...ish367789.aspx

[davidbfpo]

AdamG,

The occassional RN deployment to our northern waters to "meet & greet" a Russian vessel sometimes gets media coverage. We no longer have any maritime patrol aircraft, so a ship is sent.

IIRC last year and early this year a larger Russian vessel appeared and no RN warship was despatched until too late. It may even have anchored during a storm near UK territorial waters. The UK claims a twelve mile limit (except in a few places). Search Google on russian warship moray firth.

A lot of this activity is media hype, for many reasons, but to my knowledge none of the scrambled aircraft and ships actually respond to a Russian plane or ship actually in UK territorial waters.

[AdamG]

AdamG,
A lot of this activity is media hype, for many reasons, but to my knowledge none of the scrambled aircraft and ships actually respond to a Russian plane or ship actually in UK territorial waters.

Dave,

I think most folks - particularly those with a passing familiarity of OSINT - hanging out here can read past the media hype, particularly when it comes to the sewage pumped out by the UK and American hacks.

Between the Russian intel trawler now of the coast of Georgia (USA), the game of peekaboo with the Tupolevs and the incident you reference, we're seeing a pattern.

Of course they're testing Oceania's reaction responses and times, as well good training for their own crews.

With the Ukraine drama of late, Putin & his Kremlin buddies are just pressing home the message that they're a player on the stage - not so much to White Hall, the Pentagon & DC, but more to the rest of the world.

Enjoy that Peace Dividend.

Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching's is blue
They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names

[AdamG]

Read between the lines.

Karachi: Two Russian navy ships have arrived at Karachi port on a first-ever goodwill visit to Pakistan for a naval exercise, signalling warming of bilateral relations.

During their stay, various training activities and discussions on maritime security will be held between Pakistani and Russian naval officers.

The Russian ships will also conduct passage exercise with Pakistan Navy's vessels, state-media reported.

The Russian flotilla is being led by Rear Admiral Dmitrieve Vladimir Alexandrovich, according to a statement by the Pakistan Navy.

Pakistan and Russia have historically been on opposite sides since the Cold War, when Islamabad supported the anti-Soviet Mujahideen in neighbouring Afghanistan against invading Russian troops in the 1980s.

Russia has also been traditionally close to India and is a major defence supplier for the Indian military.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/...an_925962.html

[AdamG]

"Anti-Drug Drills". Alrighty then.

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Two Russian navy ships, together with forces from Nicaragua and Honduras, have taken part in anti-narcotics naval exercises in the Caribbean, a spokesman for Russia’s Northern Fleet said Tuesday.

“The exercises focused on joint efforts to stop organized criminal groups and cut drug smuggling channels in territorial waters of Latin American states,” Northern Fleet spokesman Capt. 2nd Rank Yevgeny Kirillov said.

Russia sent a Vishnya-class intelligence ship, the Viktor Leonov, and the Nikolay Chiker support vessel to the exercises.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140...Caribbean.html

Russia's navy has launched snap military exercises involving its fleet in the Caspian Sea, a news report said.

The drill will last seven days and involve about 10 naval vessels and 400 sailors, the Defence Ministry said, Interfax reported. The Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, and the region is crisscrossed by oil and natural gas pipelines.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/a...ea/498788.html

On Wednesday, China announced that it plans to hold joint naval drills with Russia in the East China Sea later this month.

“These drills are regular exercises held by China and Russia’s navies, and the purpose is to deepen practical cooperation between the two militaries, to raise the ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats,” China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Voice of America reports that the joint naval drills will be held in late May off the coast of Shanghai. This is significantly north of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands that have been the source of ongoing tensions between Japan and China in recent years. Russia also has an ongoing territorial dispute with Japan over the Kuril Islands located even further north off the far eastern coast of Russia.

http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/china...ast-china-sea/

[Stan]

From the International Business Times comes the following...

A Soviet-era bomber aircraft "in very good condition" has been put up for sale on the internet auction site eBay, with a starting price of only $3m (£1.8m).

What a sweet deal indeed, with "just over 454 hours of the 5,000 hours it is capable of" you could own this thing with world renowned reputation of "one of the noisiest aircraft in the world, with the roar of its propellers reportedly detectable by the hydrophones of submerged submarines".