Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Weekly Brief Very little military activity was reported during the week. This is largely due to the Sea Cup military game that is being hosted in Vladivostok as part of Russia's International Army games for 2021. Daily Events August 24 Akula class submarine RFS Kuzbass arrived back in port following a long range deployment in the Pacific Ocean [ 1 ].

Daily Events August 23 Pilots of the naval aviation trained to engage a detachment of simulated warships during a planned exercise. The pilots had to overcome the air defense systems of the simulated vessels in order to conduct missile and bombs strikes against the enemy. The attack was pressed from different directions, a tactic used to overwhelm the enemy defense systems. Several Su-30SM fighters and Su-24 fighter-bombers took part in this exercise [ 1 ]. The Latvian Armed Forces report the presence of Ivan Gren class landing vessel RFS Pyotr Morgunov at five nautical miles from the Latvian territorial waters and operating in the EEZ of Latvia [ 2 ]. August 25 Ivan Gren class landing vessel RFS Pyotr Morgunov was reported at twelve nautical miles of the Latvian territorial waters [ 3 ]. Improved Kilo class submarine RFS Magadan is operating in the Gotland Deep as part of her factory sea trails [ 4 ]. August 27 The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the end of exercise Cohesion 202...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of August 28 Weekly Brief The arrival of several large warships in the Mediterranean has significantly strengthened the Mediterranean task force. The arrival of the Steregushchy class corvette RFS Gremyashchy and Aleksandrit class minehunter RFS Vladimir Yemelyanov in the Mediterranean has been confirmed with both vessels spotted on the Sentinel-2 overpass on August 27. Previously these vessels were in the Atlantic Ocean but their transit through the Strait of Gibraltar was not reported. Supplying this large task force could become problematic with the departure of the Olemka class fleet oiler RFS Iman. This vessel was seen on August 22 being towed back to the Black Sea which suggest a severe malfunction of the vessel that prevents her to operate under her own power. The arrival of the Akademik Pashin and rescue tug Altai provide replacement capacity but it remains to be seen if these vessels could support several ongoing deployme...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of August 21 Weekly Brief A significant increase in combat power took place with the arrival of a Udaloy class destroyer in the western Mediterranean. The arrival of the vessel highlighted the tense relations between Russia and NATO members as official authorization of entering the port of Cueta, Spain, was not given in time. This forced the destroyer to wait until the oiler Akademik Pashin arrived in the western Mediterranean. RFS Admiral Essen has spent almost the entire week moored in Istanbul where she is taking part in the IDEF2021 military exhibition. Ship rotations are expected to be ended by the start of week 34. Rescue tug Sergei Balk has been steadily heading to the Turkish Straits. There are rumors that she could be escorting another warship though this was not verified. Daily Events August 15 Rescue tug SB-742 of the 314th Rescue Ship Squad of the Black Sea Fleet has passed through the Bosporus and entered the Mediterranea...

  Daily Events August 16 An Improved Kilo class submarine operated in the Gulf of Finland during the morning hours. The submarine was most likely the RFS Magadan for the Pacific Fleet which currently undergoing the factory sea trails which will include deep dives and checking the onboard systems such as sonar and navigation equipment [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. August 18 The Improved Kilo class submarines RFS Petropavlosk-Kamchatskiy and RFS Volkhov have departed the Baltic Sea and passed the Great Belt bridge at 1055Z. Both submarines are assigned to the Pacific Fleet and will most likely pass through the Mediterranean [ 3 ]. Frigate RFS Neustrashimy has started her mooring trails following a period of repairs and modernization at the Yantar shipyards. The vessel will work through 41 points before being allowed to start the sea trails. The mooring trails are expected to be completed in October [ 4 ].

August 10 Boris Chilikin class tanker RFS Sergey Osipov departed the port of Severomorsk around 8AM UTC. The vessel will act as support ship for the Udaloy class destroyer RFS Severomorsk together with the rescue tug Pamir [ 1 ]. All three vessels will be deployed for a two moth long voyage across the Northeastern Passage in the Artic Ocean. Other ships will join the deployment with the Russian Ministry of Defense reporting that, in total, eight ships will take part in the exercise [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. The deployment will be held under the command of Vice-Admiral Oleg Golubev, the Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet. All three vessels were reported heading north of Murmansk and into the Barents Sea by 18:50 UTC [ 4 ]. It appears that all three vessels are heading towards a training area which is located north of Murmansk and west of Severny island of Nova Zemlya [ 5 ]. The training area is closed by NOTAMs for artillery exercises which are to be held between August 11 and 13. August 16 Udal...

Weekly Brief A large task force of at least eight warships was present at an amphibious landing exercise at Kaliningrad on August 11. This task force, from a naval point of view, trained in interoperability and supporting amphibious landing vessels with shore bombardment and mine clearing operations. Ivan Grenn landing vessel RFS Pyotr Morgunov reentered the Baltic Sea due the exact reasons for her return remain unknown. The vessel most likely will pick up the Northern Fleet marines and their heavy equipment and transport them back to their base. Daily Events August 10 Ivan Grenn class landing ship RFS Pyotr Morgunov passed through the Oresund during the early morning and headed into the Baltic Sea [ 1 ]. August 11 As part of the their bilateral training exercise, around 100 marines of the Baltic and Northern Fleets performed an amphibious landing at the Khmelevka training ground in the Kaliningrad Region. The marines were embarked on the Ropucha class LST RFS Minsk and the Zubr class ...

Weekly Brief Two training exercise were reported, both of them defensive in nature which involved the deployments of corvettes. Naval activity near Vladivostok was temporary put on hold as Typhoon Lupit approached Primorsky Krai. A Russian missile tracking vessel was deployed in the center of the Pacific Ocean in order to monitor the launch of a US Minuteman III ICBM. Daily Events August 09 Bastion coastal missile defense systems were deployed during an exercise at Kamchatka with the systems performing electronic launches against a simulated hostile surface task force. Several small anti-submarine vessels played the part of the enemy task force [ 1 ]. These are presumed to be Grisha class corvettes which have been operating in the Sea of Okhotsk recently. August 10 The Russian naval vessels at Primorsky Krai are placed in a higher degree of preparedness as tropical storm "Lupit" is expected to arrive soon. Watch teams are strengthened, ships are sealed and damage control mean...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of August 14 Weekly Brief Naval activity in the Mediterranean increased but remains related to ships moving back and forth to their new deployment areas such as RFS Admiral Makarov returning to the Black Sea and triaging vessel RFS Smolny transiting through the Mediterranean. Amur class repair vessel PM-138 is reported at sea, escorted by rescue tug Sergei Balk. This is unusual as the vessel normally remains in the port of Tartus in order to support the Russian warships moored there. She could possible head for the Red Sea though this is not confirmed.  Amur class repair vessels normally serve six months in the Mediterranean before being replaced. The PM-138 arrived only at April 01 and is expected to rotate out around October. A previous deployment in the Red Sea took place between April-28 and June-18. Daily Events August 09 Rescue tug Sergei Balk allegedly reversed course in and headed back towards the Mediterranean. The...

August 04 Caspian Flotilla Several recruits of the spring draft and assigned to the reconnaissance and air assault units, have completed their parachute course on ground simulators and are moving on to jump out of Mi-8AMTSh helicopters in the near future. Training on the simulators allowed to marines to get familiarized with the procedures for jumping out an aircraft, stabilizing the main parachute and how to act when caught in strong winds. Training will continue with the D-10 parachute system. In total, around 150 marines are involved in the training [ 1 ]. August 05 Caspian  Flotilla A large company sized training was reported at the Adanak training ground in Dagestan which saw the deployment of 200 marines and 30 pieces of military equipment. The training was held at squad, platoon and company level in preparation for larger battalion sized exercises. During this training, the marines trained in small arms fire with their AK-74 and AK-12 assault riffles and how to operate the v...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of August 07 Weekly Brief A new session of planned rotations is currently ongoing with the arrival of frigate RFS Admiral Essen and MCM vessel RFS Ivan Golubets. The rescue tug Sergei Balk also appears to be heading back to the Black Sea and was last reported near the Greek island of Rhodes as it entered the Southern Aegean Sea. Daily Events August 04 Rescue tug Sergei Balk most likely departed the port of Tartus, Syria [ 1 ]. The departure was not verified by other sources. August 06 Natya class minesweeper RFS Ivan Golubets passed the Bospurus and headed towards the Mediterranean [ 2 ]. The vessel is part of the 150th Minesweeper Division of the 68th Coastal Defense Ship Brigade [ 3 ]. The deployment of the vessel is part of a planned rotation of forces [ 4 ]. Rescue tug Sergei Balk was reported entering the southern Aegean Sea. The vessel was southwest of Rhodes during the evening hours [ 5 ]. August 07 Grigorovich class frigat...

Weekly Brief Training focused mainly on base protection and anti-sabotage drills, both at Kamchatka and near Vladivostok. Several vessels returned to port following a deployment at sea, most notably the Oscar II class SSGN RFS Orel who completed a patrol in the Pacific Ocean. Daily Events   August 02 An anti-terrorist exercise took place at Kamchatka with military police preventing a simulated group of enemies infiltrating Avacha Bay. Two groups of saboteurs attempted to penetrate the military base. One group arrived by car and attempted to pass through a checkpoint with forged papers. A second group operated a motor boat and tried to approach over water. This group was stopped by military police operating a BL-680 high-speed boat [ 1 ]. August 04 Oscar II class nuclear submarine RFS Omsk returned at Kamchatka following a patrol in the Pacific Ocean [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Grisha class corvettes RFS Metel and RFS Koreets held an anti-sabotage exercise together with four Grachonok class v...

Weekly Brief At least three submarines were at sea this week, all of them Improved Kilo class submarines. Submarine operations were limited to training the crew of the RFs Krasnodar and completing factory trails of the RFS Magadan. A Kalibr missile exercise was also held  with two small missile ships conducting electronic launches.  Naval activity decreased by the end of the week due to bad weather over the Baltic Sea. Daily Events August 02 Improved Kilo class submarine RFS Krasnodar held a deep diving exercises with depths going to 190 meters. The crew trained operating the submarine at these depths and practiced several methods for surfacing. In the coming days, the submarine will also train firing torpedoes against surface and subsurface targets, lay minefields and train to avoid maritime patrols conducted by anti-submarine helicopters [ 1 ]. The training course is part of the so called L-3 training program [ 2 ]. The exercise took place near the Gotland Deep with Kas...