Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk49/2020

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 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 spare parts or the need for a warship to leave the Mediterranean and head back to their main naval base

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