The US "TheDrive" website reported that the US military found that 3 Russian large tank landing ships had entered the Baltic Sea and were now missing. The three landing ships were Korolev, Minsk and Kaliningrad.
The Russian Type 775 tank landing ship, nicknamed the Toad class in the West, can carry 10 main battle tanks and 190 landing soldiers or 24 armored combat vehicles and 170 soldiers. 3 tank landing ships means 30 tanks and nearly 600 Russian Marines.
Swedish officials monitoring Russian warships in the Baltic Sea have made it clear that the current level of activity of Russian warships is unusually high. Now the U.S. side speculates that the tank landing ships may have two destinations. The first was to go to the Black Sea and join the Black Sea Fleet. Because once the war starts, the Russian Black Sea Fleet will certainly launch an amphibious landing war against Ukraine.
Russian Marines will launch a sea landing in the Sea of Azov to seize important targets off the Coast of Ukraine and cut off Ukrainian troops on the southern front. The second destination is that the Russian fleet may go to the Syrian port of Tartus to strengthen its military capabilities in the Syrian direction. U.S. P-8A maritime reconnaissance aircraft are focusing on the baltic direction, while Swedish S-100D aircraft are also stepping up reconnaissance. At the same time, the Swedish army began to deploy armored forces to The Island of Gotland.
Judging from the landing exercises held by Russia in Crimea, the Russian military exercises are mainly a combination of airborne troops airdrops and Marine Corps. During the Russian Crimea landing exercise, the Russian 7th Guards Airborne Assault Division and the Marine Corps dispatched transport aircraft, helicopters and landing ships respectively. In a very short period of time, occupy favorable areas and ensure that follow-up troops are supported by artillery, tanks, warplanes and drones; capture imaginary enemy command posts; destroy enemy bases; and so on.
According to the US media "Forbes" website, after the Russian army launched the landing war, the Russian Black Sea Fleet will launch cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles to attack the Ukrainian army command center, missile positions, radar stations and important ammunition depots. Destroy and paralyze the Ukrainian army at the first time command communications detection and long-range counterattack capabilities.
The Russian military's ability to now stand up to NATO is entirely the result of Russia's military reforms in 2008. After the 1990s, NATO began to reduce the number of ground troops, especially heavy armored forces, on a large scale, and reduce the replacement of modern weapons. At the same time, the Russian army is also undergoing large-scale disarmament, and by 2008, there were only a few brigades of field troops that could conduct emergency mobile operations.
After 2008, Shoigu began a comprehensive upgrade of the Russian army, reorganizing various tank divisions and motorized divisions. At the same time, due to a lack of funds, the Russian army began to improve old weapons. For example, the use of multi-service command and coordination systems, precision guidance systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles has improved the combat effectiveness of old rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery.
Now, the Russian army can put forward the strength of 4 armies on the western front, while NATO's current mobile strength is less than 40,000 people. The largest formation is only a brigade-level infantry and wheeled armored vehicle battle group.
Although the U.S. military established the 5th Army Forward Command and the 1st Infantry Division Forward Command in Eastern Europe, it was planned that it would take at least 30 days for the 30 U.S. Army Battalions to reach Europe. By that time, Ukraine would have been defeated long ago.
The largest U.S. military force in Europe now is the Usstruman Truman battle group in the northern Mediterranean Sea, which blocks the outlet of the Black Sea. The Truman Carrier Battle Group belongs to the U.S. 8th Aircraft Carrier Strike Group, which carries four squadrons of attack fighters, an electronic attack squadron, and an airborne early warning squadron of aircraft carriers. Escorts include the Aegis-class destroyers HMS Cole, the Aegis-class destroyers HMS Bainbridge, the HMS Graveley-class destroyers, and the HMS Jason Dunham-class destroyers.
If the Russian army launches a war, the Truman aircraft carrier can contain and strike at the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Interfere with Russian landing operations and long-range strike capabilities against land targets. The US military believes that in the modern high-precision missiles, especially hypersonic missiles have been greatly developed now, the traditional air bases of the US military, naval bases and so on. All will be destroyed and paralyzed by missiles as soon as the war begins. Therefore, it is all the more necessary to give play to the high mobility advantages of aircraft carriers in actual combat.