Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Compostion As reported by OSINT at noon of September 25 Weekly Brief The task force has been reduced to its normal since with the departure of the Northern and Pacific Fleet detachments. It is however unsupported with the departure of the PM-138 repair vessel and the Akademik Pashin fleet oiler. Operations by the task force are thus restricted to the Eastern Mediterranean where it can resupply at friendly and neutral ports such as Tartus, Syria, and Limassol, Cyprus. Daily Events September 19 Amur class repair vessel PM-138 passed the Bosporus and entered the Black Sea around 0400Z [ 1 ]. The vessel spent a total of 171 days in the Mediterranean, providing expert technical support for the Russian warships stationed at Tartus, Syria. A Russian task force was reported at 1655Z in a position southeast of Sicily. The vessels appear to be the Udaloy class destroyer RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov, fleet oiler RFS Akademik Pashin and rescue tug Altai [ 2 ]. She was later reported in a po

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of September 18 Weekly Brief Udaloy class destroyer RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov is on a patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean with her and her escorts making a supply stop at Cyprus during the beginning of the week. Amur class repair vessel PM-138 is operating in the Aegean Sea and appears to be returning to the Black Sea. The vessel arrived in the Mediterranean on April 01 and was expected to operate for 6 months which is the standard rotation time for repair vessels. So far no news of a replacement for PM-138 was reported, suggesting that the Russian task force in the Mediterranean could operate without a dedicated repair vessel. Given the high number of warships in the Mediterranean, this seems a risky decision. Daily Events September 13 Fleet oiler RFS Akademik Pashin has arrived at the port of Limassol, Cyprus at 1100Z [ 1 ]. September 14 Training vessel RFS Smolny has left the Mediterranean by passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of September 11 Weekly Brief The Russian task group of three Improved Kilo class submarines have been slowly transiting from west to east with the group passing south of Cyprus on Saturday morning. Frigate RFS Admiral Essen has been reported at sea halfway the week when she practiced replenishment at sea. With her location unreported at the end of the week, it is unknown if she acts as an additional escort for the Russian submarines. The position of the remaining large surface combatants also remained unreported. However, with the Akademik Pashin last reported on September 3 and heading to Tartus, it is presumed that the RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov and RFS Gremyashchy are most likely operating near Tartus. Daily Events September 05 Aleksandrit class minehunter RFS Vladimir Emelyanov passed the Bosporus and transited to the Black Sea. The transit took place during the morning hours [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. September 06 Tapir class landing vessel RFS

September 01 Caspian Flotilla A battalion level tactical exercise took place at the Adanak training ground in Dagestan with the marines preparing to hold amphibious landing exercises in the near future. The marines allegedly belong to the air assault battalion which is currently conventionally deployed. The marines were previously also involved in a forced march from Adanak to the training ground in Turali, a distance of over 80 km. This forced march was done with the marines mounted in BTR-82A and BTR-70M armored personnel carriers. The marines are reported to conduct their landing from Serna landing craft and BL-820 high speed boats. A second phase will involve the defense of the coast against a simulated hostile landing. For this task, the marines will supported by artillery and aviation assets. The artillery involved is described as D-30 122mm howitzers and 2S12 'Sani' self-propelled mortars. In total, around 500 marines and 150 pieces of equipment are involved in the exerc

  Daily Events August 31 Steregushchy class corvettes RFS Sovershenny and RFS Gromky held an air defense missile exercise at an unidentified training range of the Pacific Fleet. Both corvettes took turn in launching their missiles from the Redut air defense system against a Malachite target missile. The role of the attacking force was played by the Nanuchka class corvette RFS Iney. A unmanned aerial vehicle of the Naval Aviation regiment was involved as well. [ 1 ] The Russian MoD reports that air defense systems operated as usual on both Steregushchy class corvettes [ 2 ]. September 01 Grisha class anti-submarine corvettes RFS Kholmsk and RFS Ust-Limsk are operating as a group in the Sea of Okhotsk. Both vessels held artillery exercises against simulated sea and air targets. The exercise was done with the use of the AK 630 close-in weapon systems guided by visual observation. A second exercise involved the use of the Osa air-defense missile systems under conditions with enemy jamming.

Task Force Composition UPDATE: The location of the oiler RFS Akademik Pashin was reported on Sep-03 in a position south of Cyprus and heading towards Tartus. As reported by OSINT at noon of September 04 Weekly Brief Russia's submarine force dramatically increased from the standard two to five Improved Kilo class submarines operating in the Mediterranean. This means that Russia is now operating more submarines Kilo class submarines in the Mediterranean than inside the Black Sea. The Pacific Fleet submarines will transit further to the Pacific Fleet in the near future and RFS Krasnodar is expected to relieve the RFS Stary Oskol. RFS Rostov-On-Dan will likely remain in the Mediterranean for now, as she entered it as recently as March 13. Intelligence collection vessel RFS Ivan Khurs departed the Mediterranean. OSINT did not pick up her return to the Mediterranean as she was last reported in Port Sudan on April 10. It is possible that she returned in the Mediterranean on June 18 togeth