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24 Sep 14. Russia is building a second naval base in the Black Sea as part of a huge expansion of its seapower off Ukraine and eastern Europe. Eighty new ships will swell Russia’s naval presence to 206 vessels by 2020, the Black Sea fleet commander said. A second naval base at Novorossiysk will be ready by 2016. President Putin visited the port city in south-west Russia to be present for the announcement. The new naval base at Novorossiysk will have several strategic advantages over the established one at Sevastopol in recently-annexed Crimea. Seven new submarines will be stationed at the base, each equipped with cruise missiles with a range of more than 1,500km, the Vice Admiral said. “The submarines that will be deployed here will carry long-range cruise missiles, and the degree of secrecy of submarines’ departure from the base in Novorossiysk is far higher than that in Sevastopol,” he said. “Crimea’s reconnection with the Russian Federation has not affected the relevance of this base because NATO ships are constantly present in the Black Sea, and there are plans to build a naval base in the Black Sea.” Russia is in the midst of a decade-long 21trn ruble ($330bn) overhaul of its armed forces. The early fruits of this modernisation were displayed by its troops earlier this year with the slick, near bloodless stealth capture of Crimea. However the Russian navy’s reputation has yet to be rehabilitated after decades of underinvestment. With |Mr Putin also keen to dominate the Arctic Ocean and project Russian naval power into Asia, defence analysts were sceptical yesterday about what the new Black Sea Fleet plans will amount to in practice. Alexander Golts, a leading independent Russian military expert said: “It’s much easier to modernise the ground forces. You just need to complete units and give them good training. The problem with the fleet is much deeper. You need new ships and for the last 20 years our fleet did not receive any.” Eighty new warships would be a “totally mythological figure”, far beyond the capability of the Russian ship building industry, he said. The figure was likely to be achievable only if “they are going to count even very, very small vessels.” Dr Igor Sutyagin, senior fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that the increase could be feasible but would be mostly made up of non-combat ships from “tugboats to search and rescue ships” alongside six “rather small frigates” and the seven submarines. The navy is “overstretching” he said. When President Putin spoke about the national rearmament programme earlier this month he mentioned “the same amount of money he mentioned three years ago. Russia is confronting the West on more fronts, but “Russia doesn’t plan to invest more because it doesn’t have more,” Dr Sutyagin said. (Source: The Times)
BATTLESPACE Comment: This announcement will come as no surprise to seasoned BATTLESPACE readers and demonstrates the idiotic approach to Ukraine by the EU in attempting to make them join the EU when the Russian Black Sea fleet, many armed with nukes were based at Sebastopol and now at a new base.
MARITIME
20 Sep 14. Russian Navy’s Mistral-class vessel completes tests. The Russian Navy’s first Mistral-class helicopter carrier, Vladivostok, has successfully completed a series of tests. The vessel, which was carrying a crew of 200 Russian sailors, is now set to commence sea trials with its second crew, RIA Novosti reported. Vladivostok was built by DCNS as part of a $1.52bn deal signed by Russia in June 2011 for the procurement of two Mistral-class aircraft carriers from France. The intergovernmental agreement, which involves the transfer of technology, enables Russia to procure two more Mistral-class vessels, which will be built 80% in Russia and 20% in France. However, in the midst of the ongoing unrest in eastern Ukraine, France reportedly withdrew its plans to deliver two warships to the Russian N