Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Weekly Brief With the majority of the Baltic Fleet stationed near Saint Petersburg and preparing for the Navy Day parade on July 25, no naval activity was reported throughout the week. Land forces stationed a Kaliningrad continued their summer training program with a reported emphasis on how to operated tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and trucks. Conscripts are being brought up to standard so that they can participate in the Zapad-21 military exercise. Daily Events June 28 Several vessels of the Northern Fleet have left Severomorsk and are headed for the Baltic Sea where they are to arrive in the beginning of July [ 1 ]. The vessels, identified as the Slava class cruiser RFS Marshal Utsinov, Udaloy class destroyer RFS Admiral Kulakov, landing vessel RFS Pyotr Morguniv and the rescue tug Altai, will take part in the Navy Day at Saint Petersburg and train with the Baltic Fleet. June 29 A large scale multi-day exercise has started at Kaliningrad, lead by the corps commander. The exercis...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of July 03 Weekly Brief The start of the week saw Russian Naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean with an air defense exercise held by several naval vessels and the two submarines normally stationed in Tartus. No additional news and follow up reports were available through OSINT beyond July 29. Daily Events June 27 Twitter user @GrangerE04117 reported a satellite image of the Syrian port of Tartus which showed the absence of Russian warships. This image suggests that the entire task force was at sea, most likely in support of the large scale naval exercises that are scheduled to start soon [ 1 ]. June 28 Five Russian warships held an air defense exercise at an unspecified location in the Eastern Mediterranean. The warships trained the defense against aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. TvZvezda reported three of the five warships involved were reported by name, Slava class cruiser RFS Moskva and Grigorovich class f...

  Daily Events June 21 Tank crews stationed in Kaliningrad held a night time combat training exercise which saw the use of the tank carousel. Around 100 tankers, manning 30 T-72B3M tanks, took part in the exercise during which they engaged targets between 200 and 2.200 meters. The amount of tanks used in the exercise suggest a battalion size unit was involved [ 1 ]. The naval aviation regiment held several tactical flight exercise which saw the use of around 20 helicopters, including Mi-24 and Mi-8 as well as Ka-27 and Ka-27PS helicopters. The training focused on the regular tasks performed by the naval aviation regiment such as engaging ground troops and command posts, conduct reconnaissance and searching for submarines [ 2 ]. June 23 The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that helicopter training continued for the naval avaition regiment. Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters fired around 50 unguided rockets and expended over a thousand 30mm shells against simulated enemy positions, parke...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of June 26 Weekly Brief Russian naval activity is increasing in the Eastern Mediterranean as a large scale naval exercise is scheduled to take place in the near future. The arrival of additional aircraft and the participation of the two Improved Kilo class submarines suggest a strong focus on air defense and anti-submarine warfare during this exercise. Though no starting date has so far been officially reported, the exercise will start soon and might even take place at the same time as NATO maritime forces conduct the Sea Breeze exercise in the Black Sea. The participation of both Kilo class submarines is notable. Over the past months these submarines were observed on satellite imagery as being in port which suggest that the crews of these vessels have seen little to no training at sea. As such, the expected Russian Naval exercise will not only test the combat efficiency and readiness of the surface vessels RFS Moskva, RFS Admiral Mak...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of June 19 Weekly Brief No naval activity was reported through OSINT until the end of the week with the transit of the Black Sea Fleet flagships RFS Moskva through the Bosporus. Escorted by the frigate RFS Admiral Essen, both vessels are to join the Russian task force at Tartus. The arrival of the Slava class cruiser is a significant increase of Russian naval combat power in the Eastern Mediterranean. The cruiser will most likely perform several naval combat exercises and port visits as part of the summer training program and her deployment might be similar as that of the Slava class cruiser RFS Marshal Ustinov in 2019. Daily Events June 17 Amur class repair vessel PM-138 passed through the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean. The transit reportedly took place during the afternoon [ 1 ]. June 18 Slava class missile cruiser RFS Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, passed through the Bosporus and headed towards the Mediterranea...

  Daily Events June 14 Several Russian warships were observed on satellite imagery outside the port of Baltiysk. These vessels were reported as a Steregushchy and Gremyashchy class corvette, two Karakurt class corvettes, three Tarantul III class missile boats and one Nanucka III class missile boat [ 1 ]. The Tarantul and Nanuchka class vessels are part of the 36th Missile ship Brigade. It is most likely that these vessels took part in the air defense exercise reported by TvZvezda which involved several corvettes and missile boats [ 2 ]. Su-24 and Su-30SM fighter bombers played the part of enemy aircraft during this exercise. The vessels were reportedly successful in repelling the airstrike with their missile and artillery systems. June 15 TASS news agency reported that two Tu-160 strategic bombers conducted an eight hour long flight over the Baltic Sea. During their flight, the bombers were escorted by Su-35S and Su-27 fighter aircraft of the Baltic Naval Aviation. Italian F-35s, D...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of June 12 Weekly Sitrep Little naval activity was reported through open sources and all activity was related to the transiting of several vessels towards the Mediterranean. This drop in reported naval activity could be related to the large scale naval exercises held by the Northern and Pacific Fleets. It is unknown if the Pavel Silaev will replace the Grachonok harbor protection boat already in operations in Tartus. If not, than Russia will operate two of these vessels which could indicate a higher security risk against Russian vessels stationed in Tartus. These harbor protection boats are designed to operate against irregular forces such as small groups of saboteurs or divers. Daily Events June 08 Rescue tug Sergei Balk and Grachonok class patrol boat RFS Pavel Silaev were heading into the Bosporus for a transit to the Mediterranean but later turned around and returned back towards the Black Sea. The RFS Pavel Silaev was to...

June 02 Pacific Fleet: The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Ropucha class landing ships RFS Oslyabya and RFS Peresvet conducted several training exercises in the Sea of Japan. The exercise started with loading the vessels for an amphibious assault. Once at sea, the vessels engaged simulated hostile shore positions with their Grad-M 122mm multiple launch rocket systems. The vessels then proceeded to repel a mock air attack with their artillery systems. The next serial of exercises involved defending against enemy warships. For this exercise, the vessels used their 76mm AK-176 and 57mm AK-725 artillery systems. The hostile vessel was simulated by a large shield being towed by another vessel. The last reported exercise involved mine defense with naval crews firing on a model of floating sea mine. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] June 03 Pacific Fleet: The entire air-assault battalion stationed in Kamchatka was deployed to the Radygino training ground as part of the combat training prog...