Russian Navy - News and Analysis

December 29 The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the autumn draft of new conscripts has come to an end. Around 7.000 conscripts have joined the armed forces station in Kaliningrad. The Baltic Navy reportedly took in 2.000 new junior specialists. [ 1 ] In the coming months, these troops will be brought up to standard by several theoretical and tactical trainings. December 30 A Vishnya class intelligence vessel, presumed to be the RFS Vasily Tatishchev, was reported heading north through the Oresund at 12:50Z. [ 2 ]

Task Force composition As reported by OSINT on the morning of January 03 General Events December 29 A surface task force of Baltic Fleet warships crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean. The task force consists of the Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky, the sea going tanker RFS Kola and the sea tug Yakov Grebelsky. RFS Kola reportedly passed the Strait of Gibraltar around 2130L on December 28 (= 0230Z on December 29). [ 1 ] During her passage between the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, the RFS Stoiky conducted an anti-submarine warfare exercise at an unspecified location in the Atlantic Ocean. the corvette used its Ka-27PL helicopter to locate, track and destroy the simulated hostile submarine. [ 2 ] Ropucha class landing vessel RFS Novocherkassk passed the Dardanelles and headed towards the Sea of Marmara. [ 3 ] Commercial satellite imagery taken southeast of Cyprus showed two Russian vessels heading on a western course. The vessels were iden...

On December 24, the Russian news agency  Izvestia reported that the Pacific Naval Infantry will receive BMP-3F Infantry Fighting Vehicles. These vehicles will be used to equip a battalion in both the 40th Brigade, based at Kamchatka, and the 155th Brigade, based in Primorye. Adding BMP-3F IFVs to the Naval Infantry further increases the firepower and mobility of the Naval Infantry and brings them closer in terms of combat capabilities to the the level of the Chinese and US amphibious forces. The BMP-3F, an amphibious version of the BMP-3, presents a major increase in the combat capabilities of the Pacific Fleet Naval Infantry. The vehicle is better armored then the BTR-82A that is currently in use and has better firepower with both a low-velocity 2A70 100 mm rifled gun, capable of firing anti-tank missiles, and a 2A72 30 mm dual feed autocannon mounted in the turret. For comparison, the BTR-82A only has the 2A72 30 mm gun. The secondary armament for both vehicles is a...

Task force  composition Auxiliary  ships Note:  Several auxiliary vessels were not reported in the past weeks, nor were they visible in several satellite images. This suggest a fault in the starting list when this weekly situation report was first created. Inbound Outbound General information December 21 Ropucha class landing ship RFS Novocherkassk transited the Bosphorus on her way towards the port of Tartus, Syria. The vessel was observed as heavily loaded. The report of the transit was published during the afternoon. [ 1 ] Rescue tug RFS Captain Gurev was reported in a position south of Rhodes where she turned from an eastward course towards the north around 0750Z [ 2 ]. It is unknown of the submarine she was escorting, RFS Stary Oskol, also headed north. If the submarine continues towards Tartus, she is currently without escort as the rescue tug Prof Nikolay Muru was reported in Tartus and tugboat SB-739 was reported near the Dardanelles [ 3 ]. The corvette RFS V...

December 21 A training exercise for tank-crews was reported near the town of Gusev in the Kaliningrad Region. Over 100 servicemen and 30 T-72B3 tanks were involved in the exercise which was focused on driving test firing. Offensive actions and defensive actions while on the move. [ 1 ] December 23 Amphibious landing vessel RFS Pyotr Morgunov has been officially accepted into the Russian Navy. the ceremony took place at Kaliningrad and was attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov. The commanding the new vessel is Captain Vyacheslav Solovyov. The RFS Pyotr Morgunov is an advanced version of the Ivan Gren class landing vessels. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky, escorted by the fleet oiler RFS Kola and rescue tug Yakov Grebelsky, transited the English Channel. The surface action group is headed towards the Mediterranean. RFS Stoiky is equipped with a Ka-27 helicopter. during her transit, the helicopter crew will train ...

December 15 Altay class fleet oiler RFS Kola reportedly left the Kaliningrad Anchorage around 18:20Z [ 1 ]. The vessel arrived at the anchorage last week on Saturday December 12 [ 2 ]. Command training has started for Platoon commanders stationed in Kaliningrad. Around 500 servicemen will take part in this training and include officers from the Naval Infantry, motorized rifle, tank, artillery and missile units of the 11th army corps, as well as specialists from engineering, radio-technical, rear and other units. The training will also test the officers capability to train and educate his subordinates. [ 4 ] December 16 Russian Media reported that the Kilo class submarine RFS Dmitrov was conducting combat exercises in the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad. Several operational and tactically situations were trained during the exercises. One exercise involved a deep dive to 190 meters and checking the operation of the systems and mechanics.  Rescue tug SB-123 (Project 02980) provided assist...

Task Force composition Auxiliary  ships Outbound General Events December 15 Ropucha class landing ship RFS Novocherkassk and Tapir class landing ship RFS Saratov transited the Bosporus during the morning and entered the Black Sea. RFS Novocherkassk passed first around 05:00Z, followed 15 minutes later by RFS Saratov. Both vessels have been traveling together since they left the port of Tartus on December 11. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] December 16 Grigorovish class frigate RFS Admiral Essen completed the K-1 training course while deployed in the Mediterranean. The K-1 training course normally takes place in the harbor and is set up to prepare new recruits for life on board of warships. The course teaches new recruits the ships organization, how to prepare the vessel for cruising and warfare as well as how to conduct damage control while the vessel is moored. These basic skills are needed to ensure that the vessel can be deployed safely at sea. The crew of the RFS Admiral Essen also trained in defe...

Task Force composition Remark: The Buyan-M class corvette was previously wrongly identified as the RFS Orekhovo-Zuyevo. However, this vessel was present in the Black Sea during the Russian-Egyptian naval exercise "Bridge of Friendship" at the end of November 2020. She did not return to the Mediterranean following this exercise. Buyan-M class corvette RFS Vyshniy Volovhek however did transit into the Mediterranean on November 24, her transit was reported  by twitter user @YorukIsik. Auxiliary  ships Inbound vessels General events December 08: Project 304 repair vessel PM-82 of the Baltic Fleet completed her passage through the English Channel and entered into the Atlantic Ocean. An anti-terror group of the Naval Infantry is on board to protect the vessel during its deployment. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] December 11: Commercial satellite imagery, posted by Twitter user @OSINT_1, showed several vessels moored in the port of Tartus with the LSTs RFS Saratov and RFS Novocherkassk maneuv...

December 07 TASS agency reports that a new motorized infantry division will be created and deployed at the Kaliningrad Region as part of the 11th Army Corps. The decision is made in response to the deployment of four multinational battalions by NATO in Poland and the Baltic States. The infantry division will be composed of motorized troops, an artillery regiment and a separate tank regiment. Deployment of the new formation will happen in  2021. No specific date was reported. [ 1 ] [ 4 ] Type 887EKM Kilo class submarine RFS Dimitrov completed the L-2 training course in the Baltic Sea. As part of the L-2 training program, the crew worked out several combat exercises during several operational and tactical solutions. The training included several navigation tasks, such as traversing a simulated minefield. The submarine will reportedly move on to other training exercises which involve launching torpedo's against surface and subsurface targets. [ 2 ] The commander of the Baltic Fleet,...

Task force  composition NOTE: Following the publication of this post, it was revealed that submarine RFS Stary Oskol was operating recently in the Atlantic Ocean and RFS Krasnodar was undergoing maintenance at Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad Region. This only leaves the RFS Novorossiysk present in the Mediterranean. She was last seen in the port of Tartus. Auxiliary  ships Inbound Outbound General events December 01: The repair vessel PM-82, which serves the role of a floating workshop, has left the port of Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, for a deployment in the Mediterranean. The vessel is deployed in order to support the Russian surface warships and submarines operating in the Mediterranean. It will be the fifth deployment of the PM-82 in three years time. The fact that PM-82 is deployed towards the Mediterranean shows that the Russian base in Tartus serves more as an logistic hub rather then a developed naval base. PM-82 allows for repairs to be conducted that cannot be done in Tartus a...

December 04 Caspian Flotilla : Around 200 soldiers of the air assault battalion, Caspian Flotilla Naval Infantry, trained on the obstacle course at the Turali training ground in Dagestan. The marines had to overcome several physical barriers while being pshychologcally pressured through the use of  fire, smoke, noise effects, screams, bright light in the face and the imitation of exploding grenades. The obstacle course is designed to simulate combat conditions as close as possible. the psychological stress placed upon the marines during the training in part aims to develop courage, ingenuity, the ability to make urgent decisions and provide mutual assistance. At the same time, it allows for evaluation of the psycho-emotional state of the marines by military psychologists. [ 1 ] December 07 Pacific Fleet : Since December 02, a total of four landing craft of the Pacific Fleet are used to transport people and equipment between Russki island and the city o...

December 01 The repair vessel PM-82, which serves the role of a floating workshop, has left the port of Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, for a deployment in the Mediterranean. The vessel is deployed in order to support the Russian surface warships and submarines operating in the Mediterranean. It will be the fifth deployment of the PM-82 in three years time. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The fact that PM-82 is deployed towards the Mediterranean shows that the Russian base in Tartus serves more as an logistic hub rather then a developed naval base. PM-82 allows for repairs to be conducted that cannot be done in Tartus as specialized equipment and workshops are unavailable there. These are most likely repair and maintenance of more complex machinery and weapon systems. Deployment of the PM-82 prevents the need of having these parts being flown back towards Russia and being brought to specialized workshops. Ships like PM-82 can therefore reduce repair times in Tartus and prevent either expensive transport of limited...