According to the official information of the Russian Navy, around June 15, the Task Force of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, which was out of the Central Pacific, held a large-scale military exercise in the Pacific Ocean about 300 to 500 nautical miles west of the Us state of Hawaii, and the main ships of the Pacific Fleet participated in the exercise.
At the same time, the Russian Air and Space Force Long-range Aviation Corps, the Russian Pacific Fleet Naval Aviation and other units also sent large strategic bombers and long-range anti-submarine aircraft to participate in the contract, which is the first large-scale operation of the Russian Navy in the direction of the Pacific after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which can be described as unique.
Faced with the actions of the Russian Navy, the U.S. Pacific Strategic Command could not sit still:
Around June 15, some US military fans in Hawaii photographed a number of US "Burke" class destroyers at Pearl Harbor base untied and their destinations unknown, in addition to some auxiliary combat ships also left the port urgently, leaving the entire Pearl Harbor base almost empty;
On the afternoon of June 15, U.S. military fans discovered that three F-22A fighters from the 19th Squadron of the 15th Wing of the U.S. Air Force at Pearl Harbor Hickam Base were in an emergency and flew northwestward, and there was no doubt that this must have been "something big happened."
The F-22A was urgently lifted from the base at around 4 p.m
At that time, the domestic military forum in the United States was fried, and US military fans were speculating about what was wrong, and now everything has been reasonably explained: "Russian giant bear" After the Cold War, it was the first time from the north to Go south to Pearl Harbor.
The size of the Russian military dispatch
However, judging from the scale of the Russian Navy and the Russian Air and Space Force's dispatch to Hawaii this time, the response of the US Navy and Air Force is so large, so intense, and the US military fans are not lightly frightened, which is also completely normal, after all, the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet is "elite":
According to the Russian Navy, combined with the Russian Naval Fleet photographed by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force some time ago and crossed the Soya Strait in northern Hokkaido into the Pacific Ocean, the surface fleet of the Russian Navy that attacked the Pacific Ocean this time includes the following ships:
The first is the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, the guided-missile cruiser Type 1164 Type 011 "Varyag" attached to the 36th Surface Warfare Division;
The second is the Type 1155 anti-submarine warfare division type 548 "Admiral Panteleev" and the 543rd "Marshal Shaposhnikov", which are the "new upstarts" of the Pacific Fleet, which have just been upgraded and have extremely strong surface warfare and land attack capabilities;
Third, a number of cutting-edge surface ships of the Pacific Fleet may include ships such as type 20380 and 20385 frigates, type 22800 small missile ships, etc. These ships are relatively small in tonnage, but because they are equipped with 3S14 type UKSK vertical hair, they can carry 3M14 "caliber" attack cruise missiles, 3M55 "jewel" anti-ship missiles and even 3M22 "zircon" hypersonic anti-ship missiles, which have extremely strong surface warfare and land attack capabilities under the guidance of the Big Fleet;
Fourth, a large number of oil and water supply ships, ocean-going tugs and survey ships accompanied by dispatches, these auxiliary combat ships undertake tasks such as oil replenishment, accompanying the team to support and guiding the targets of attack;
In addition, considering that the Russian military has dispatched large anti-submarine ships, then there must be attack nuclear submarines and even cruise missile nuclear submarines of the underwater combat division of the Pacific Fleet underwater, but because they have not shown their faces, it is not clear which nuclear submarines the Russian army has sent.
The number of ships dispatched by the Russian Navy has reached more than 20, and the Russian Air and Space Force is not far behind. According to the information released by the Russian army, the Russian Air and Space Force dispatched two types of Tu-95MS and MiG-31BM, of which the former should be a long-range aviation and the latter should be a fighter aviation model, the Tu-95MS range can reach the central Pacific, and will definitely attract F-22A, but it is not clear what role the MiG-31BM plays in it.
MiG-31BM
However, considering that the Russian military recently announced in a high-profile manner that a MiG-31BM regiment in the Far East has taken the lead in modifying the Kh-47M2 "dagger" air-launched hypersonic aircraft, and can already carry out the air-based sea-making mission, it is not excluded that the miG-31BM fighter of the regiment will be used by the Russian Air and Space Force as a campaign-tactical aviation-level naval force in this operation, and it is coordinated with surface ships. If this speculation is true, it is estimated that the U.S. Navy will feel Alexander even more.
The significance of the Russian military dispatch
Since the Russian Navy and the Russian Air and Space Force have carried out such a big battle in the direction of Hawaii this time, and it is the first time since the Cold War that such a large operation has been carried out, how can the combat effectiveness of this Russian task force pose a threat to the US Navy and even the state of Hawaii itself. What kind of considerations are based on the Russian military's operation in the direction of Hawaii, what strategic and tactical intentions are carried out, and what kind of purposes are prepared to be achieved, which is the issue that we should pay the most attention to.
The Russian military's threat in this round is limited
First of all, the first question: in Ivan the Great's view, the Russian Navy's dispatch in the direction of Hawaii, although "elite out", pulled out the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, two large anti-submarine ships, and it is estimated that there are attack nuclear submarines and cruise missile nuclear submarines underwater. However, let's be honest, the comprehensive combat effectiveness of this Russian army fleet is still relatively limited, and there are considerable performance shortcomings.
The reason for this is mainly due to two factors:
First, the service life of these Russian warships is a bit long, whether it is the cruiser "Varyag", or the two "Fearless" class anti-submarine ships "Admiral Panterev" and "Marshal Shaposhnikov", to put it bluntly, these large ships are "old cold war ships", and basically no technical status improvement has been implemented for so many years. Rao is the most cutting-edge "Marshal Shaposhnikov", the improvement of ship electrical equipment and situational awareness capabilities is relatively limited, these "cold war old ships" in the UNITED States Navy, the UNITED States Air Force cutting-edge combat equipment, in the end how many tactical advantages, Ivan the Great is not confident.
Cruiser Varyag
Second, the Russian army's Grand Fleet operation has no air cover, which is basically a common sense content for our military fans, after all, "modern naval warfare can not get air supremacy, there is no sea supremacy", which is still something that Ishihara Guan'er clearly put forward in 1944. Although the Fleet of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet moving forward in the direction of Hawaii was also coordinated by the Russian Air and Space Force, the Russian Air and Space Force only dispatched aviation-based sea-based aircraft, such as early warning command and control aircraft, strategic-level electromagnetic support aircraft to expand the ISR/ELINT operating range of the entire forward fleet, and no fighters to form air defense intercept lines and combat patrol areas in front of the fleet (the combat radius could not keep up).
Under such circumstances, this Russian naval fleet really wants to fight with the US Navy and the US Air Force, and the Russian fleet that came out of the front will inevitably have two eyes and one black eye on the battlefield situation, and it has no ability to clarify the main threat direction of the US military, let alone intercept the possible aviation and sea operations of the US military. To put it simply, the Russian fleet that came out this time is a fleet with very uneven tactical capabilities: the fleet's sea control capability is quite strong, but its sea air defense combat capability is quite weak. We all know that under the conditions of modern warfare, having shortcomings means destruction.
The purpose of this round of Russian troops
However, despite the imbalance in tactical capabilities, the Russian Navy's "direct insertion into the Pacific" operation is still very strategically imaginative. After all, after the "return of the US military to the Indo-Pacific", a large number of destroyer squadrons were transferred to Japan and Guam to be used to "fight wits" with a certain major country in the west coast of the Pacific. The consequence of this forward-shifting of the center of gravity is the emptiness of the "rear" of the US military at Pearl Harbor.
The USS Roosevelt entering the Philippine Sea
In the face of the Russian army's large fleet this time, the US military only took out a total of three "Burke" class destroyers to move, and the main sea-controlling forces such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships were even less, and the Hickam base only took out 3 F-22A emergency battles. If there is a real confrontation between the two sides, the US military is afraid that it will have to urgently dispatch B-52H or B-1B strategic bombers from the Bacchusdale or Deiss base on the mainland to aviation and control the sea, and in the more than ten hours that these bombers are equipped and rushed to the battlefield, the three "Burkes" as the first echelon of the US military must suffer a big loss.
B-52H at Bucksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana
Of course, from the national strategic level, the Russian Navy's dispatch to the Pacific Ocean is still based on the routine "show muscles" and "declaration of presence". After all, considering that at the same time as the US-Russia Pacific fighting law, US President Biden and Russian President Putin are "talking very happily" in Geneva, Switzerland, and issued a "joint statement" with relatively limited substance after the meeting.
This is also the "basic operation" of the Russian side, which Ivan the Great has always believed that we should study carefully and draw useful experience from it, that is, how to maintain the relationship between the great powers through limited military actions and military declarations, and at the same time achieve their strategic objectives in political and international relations. Regarding these contents, readers can also think more and can directly express their opinions in the message area.
All in all, although the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet has left Hawaiian waters, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force have returned home, and the meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia has not come up with a reason, Ivan the Great believes that the Russian Navy's "Pacific Pulse" seems to provide the biggest and most useful information for us: Hawaii's own defense force is very empty. So, next, how Russia and we will "play the cards", whether the vast Pacific Ocean will leave more traces of the navies of major powers, all of which are worth our continued expectations in the future.