At the beginning of the year, the U.S. Navy John F. Kennedy The GUID-MISSILE destroyer McCain violated Russian territorial waters at Peter the Great Bay in Vladivostok, an important base in the Russian Far East, and entered Russian territorial waters at a depth of up to 2 kilometers. Peter the Great Bay is a Russian-designated inland sea, which is the third consecutive year that the U.S. military has directly invaded Russia's territorial waters. For the great powers, this "freedom of navigation" of intruding into the territorial waters is a very serious provocative act. Therefore, Russia is bound to fight back and go to the territorial waters of the United States to demonstrate "freedom of navigation."
According to the Global Network, according to the WEBSITE of the US "Naval Research Society" reported on May 28, a Russian-made "Karelia" electronic reconnaissance ship, in recent days, has been wandering back and forth on the west coast of Hawaii, and once approached Kauai Island, a distance of only 13 nautical miles. The US military has nothing to do about this, and the United States said that the Russian ship is sailing in the legal area.
Relevant personnel of the US military said that the whereabouts of the Russian Navy's reconnaissance ships are under the control of the US military, and they have been tracking and monitoring. In addition, the U.S. military also responded that the reconnaissance ship's actions were within the legal range, but did not turn on the signal broadcast of the ship's automatic identification system (AIS).
In the united Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982, two freedoms of navigation and three rights of navigation are provided for. Namely, the high seas, the freedom of navigation in the exclusive economic zone, and the right of innocent passage of the territorial sea, the right of passage through straits, the right of passage of archipelagic sea lanes, etc. However, the "freedom of navigation" identified by the Americans is based on the so-called "maritime rights and interests of other countries are not in accordance with the Convention on the Sea", accusing other countries of so-called "maritime excess claims".
The United States often negotiates with other governments at the political level and adopts American-style "freedom of navigation" actions on the military side. However, to put it bluntly, the "freedom of navigation" of the United States is completely hegemonic, full of provocative implications, and can be described as lawless and overbearing, thus attracting the dissatisfaction and protests of many countries. But the russian navy's recent actions have panicked americans and tasted the bitter fruit of "freedom of navigation."
The Karelia electronic reconnaissance ship is an 864-class "Meridian" class (NATO code name "Cherry") medium-sized electronic reconnaissance ship designed and built in the Soviet era, with a total of 7 ships of the same type, which belong to the No. 2 ship and entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1986. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia assigned it to the 128th Intelligence Center of the Pacific Fleet, and its home port was Vladivostok.
The ship is 105 meters long, 15.5 meters wide, 5.6 meters draft, standard displacement of 2500 tons, full load displacement of 3800 tons, the power system uses two Sulzer diesel engines, power up to 4400 horsepower, cruising speed of 16 knots, maximum speed of 20 knots, range up to 7000 nautical miles. The staffing establishment is 220 people, and the self-sufficiency is 60 days.
The ship is equipped with a variety of radio directional instruments such as "Profile-M", "Dawn-1" and "Rotor-S", as well as multi-type electronic reconnaissance equipment and receiving devices including MR-212/201 and "Vaigach-U" radars. Self-defense weapons include two AK-630M6 tube rapid-fire naval guns and two Needle anti-aircraft missile systems for air defense. The main uses include detecting sonar signals of various types of submarines and surface ships, and also recording various types of radio signals such as air defense radars, missiles, and aircraft, and tracking according to relevant detection data.
The U.S. military is no stranger to the 864-class electronic reconnaissance ship, which has been circling back and forth near the waters of the U.S. Navy's key facilities since 2014. For example, Cape Canaveral in Florida, which oversees the U.S. Navy's underwater operations; Kings Bay, Georgia, where U.S. nuclear submarines are stationed; and New London, Connecticut; which is also the U.S. Navy's main submarine base. Judging from the trajectory of the ship's activities over the years, the main target of detection is the nuclear submarine force of the US Navy. Its intention is to establish a huge database and reserve intelligence reserves for future operations by detecting and listening to the communication information and radar signals of the US Navy's multi-platform platforms, and then reconnaissance of intelligence in the region, collection and analysis. In addition, out of the "principle of reciprocity", the Russian Navy must also send warships to the waters near the United States for close reconnaissance, in order to show muscle and highlight Russia's military presence in the region.
But this time, the "Karelia" electronic reconnaissance ship appeared near the west coast of Hawaii and was once close to Kauai Island, which really surprised the US military. There are missile test facilities and airfields on Kauai Island, where the US military has conducted a variety of missile tests. In addition to the great interest in the US military's related missiles, the political significance behind the Karelia's sudden visit is greater than the superficial actual combat significance.
On May 19, the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers met in Reykjarmok, Iceland, a move that was seen as a sign of easing tensions between the United States and Russia for the first time. During the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken was enthusiastic, saying he was willing to establish "predictable and stable" diplomatic relations with Russia. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been tough, even after the U.S. State Department announced its exemption from sanctions on the Nord Stream-2 program. He still said that Russia is willing to carry out relevant cooperation with Western countries, but the premise is that Western countries must treat Russia equally and respect Russia's history.
On May 25, the Kremlin Information Bureau announced that the presidents of the United States and Russia would hold talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 16. The content includes issues such as the trend and development of Russian-US relations, strategic stability, and arms control. Interestingly, Russian presidential spokesman Peskov then said that Russia and the United States have a mountain of problems and will not "overly expect" the substantive progress and outcome of the summit. The implication is that we can engage and negotiate, but Russia will never expect that the talks will bring the relations between Russia and the United States to a new situation of melting and restarting.
After Russia makes a statement at the political level, its military level will also carry out relevant actions, thus forming a strategic coordination posture, so as to warn and remind the US government. Therefore, the "Karelia" suddenly visited Hawaii, which is precisely the intention, if the Americans want to use a talks, they want to reach a situation in which Russia-US relations are frozen and they are working together, I am afraid that they have miscalculated.
Therefore, face-to-face photos, meetings, military reconnaissance also acted as usual, and Russia's similar American "freedom of navigation" approach this time really made the US military spew out old blood. It has always been "eagle catching rabbits", but I did not expect to be slapped by a "polar bear" ...