According to the website of Russia's "Izvestia" newspaper on January 27, the ships of the four major fleets of the Russian Navy will gather in the Mediterranean Sea to hold the largest exercise in recent years. Nearly 20 warships participated in the exercise – including cruisers, large landing ships, frigates and large anti-submarine ships. Aviation will be actively involved. At the same time, exercises are also being held in the waters of the Black Sea. According to sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense, it is planned to exercise the cooperation of ship groups in the far and offshore waters to improve the efficiency of aviation and auxiliary forces. Experts pointed out that the script of the exercise is that several ship formations are dispatched at the same time in the event of a large-scale crisis.
According to reports, the participating ships will be assembled in the Mediterranean Sea from the end of January to the beginning of February. A joint formation of 6 large landing ships of the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet, which have appeared off the coast of Portugal, have not yet passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. In addition to the five Type 775 large landing ships, the Type 11711 "Peter Morgunov", which entered the column more than a year ago, also participated in the expedition for the first time.
On 25 January, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence announced the whereabouts of the Northern Fleet's fleet off the coast of the country and displayed photographs taken by patrol aircraft, including the guided-missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, the frigate Admiral Kasatonov, the large landing ship Vice Admiral Kulakov and the SB-406 tugboat.
According to reports, on the 26th, the Russian Ministry of Defense released a video of the warship leaving the Gulf of Kola. The formation is expected to carry out artillery shell and missile fire off the coast of Ireland.
The cruisers of the Russian Pacific Fleet also sailed to the Mediterranean. This formation included the flagship guided-missile cruiser Varyag and the escorted anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs and the large tanker Boris Butoma.
Vasily Kashin, director of the Centre for Integrated European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics of Russia, told Izvestia: "In fact, this is part of the main fleet exercise currently being held in different theaters. The exercise consisted of dispatching several ship formations at the same time in the event of a large-scale crisis. The mission of each theater is different, but all exercises are related to the tension between military and political situations in the world. This is a demonstration of the mainland's firm stand and strong strength. ”
The expert believes the exercise was aimed at demonstrating Russia's capabilities in the Middle East and North Africa. Russia has its own interests in Libya and Syria and maintains close partnerships with a number of countries. It must be proved that the Continental Fleet is capable of maintaining its presence and influencing the situation in any country in these areas.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that from January to February this year, the main forces of the Russian Navy will participate in a series of exercises. In addition to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, they will conduct exercises in the North Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the north-east Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. In total, more than 140 warships and support ships, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 pieces of military equipment and about 10,000 soldiers will be dispatched.
Since 2015, Russia has regularly held large-scale naval exercises off the coast of Syria, relying on the Tartus base. The Russian Navy formed combat formations in the Mediterranean. According to the principle of rotation, the formation consisted of 10 to 15 ships for a long time, mainly from the Black Sea Fleet.
In June 2021, 5 large ships participated in exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, including the guided-missile cruiser Moscow, the frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, and two diesel-electric submarines. Anti-submarine aircraft, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers carrying anti-ship missiles, and MiG-31K fighters carrying "dagger" hypersonic missiles were temporarily transferred to Hermem Air Base in Syria.
From September 1 to September 8, 2018, for the first time in Russia's modern history, a large-scale joint naval and air-space force exercise was held in the Mediterranean, "Shield of the Sea". At that time, the exercise was about capturing the enemy's coastal strongholds.
In addition, training is regularly carried out in the waters of the Black Sea. The Russian Black Sea Fleet Press Service said the Russian fleet held about 250 exercises there in 2021 alone.
According to the Russian news agency Russia Sevastopol reported on January 26, the Russian Black Sea Fleet Information Office issued a notice on the 26th that many ships of the fleet conducted air defense exercises during the exercise.
"The frigates 'Admiral Essen' and 'Harmony', INGVs and Gravoron, and the missile boats Cherné-sur-Cárne-sur-Kama and R-60, which are organized into different tactical groups, have completed their air defense tasks during bilateral exercises with fighters belonging to the Joint Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Southern Military Region," the announcement said. During the exercise, the carrier-based air defense detachment found, tracked and identified the enemy or the enemy and the enemy, and simulated the destruction of the "enemy aircraft" before they entered the attack route.
The Information Service of the Russian Black Sea Fleet pointed out that the minesweepers "Ivan Golubets", "Ivan Antonov" and "Valentin Pikkur" carried out anti-mine operations to protect the participating ships during the exercise.
According to reports, more than 20 combat ships were used in the exercise. These ships departed from naval bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk on the 26th and were incorporated into different attack groups, search attack groups and landing formations during the exercise.
Earlier, the Russian Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet also began to hold exercises.
Russia plans to hold a series of naval exercises led by Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, from January to February this year. The exercise sites include Russia's territorial waters and important areas of the world's oceans, such as the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Participating in the exercise was the guided-missile cruiser "Marshal Ustinov" of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. (Russian Ministry of Defense video screenshot)
Source: Reference News Network