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 ...