US Subs on Routine Patrol Missions Off Russian Shore – Admiral

The recent sighting of a Japanese submarine off Russia's Pacific coast is a rare one, unlike the presence of the US Navy’s subs, Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, former commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, told RIA Novosti Thursday.

 

“There have hardly been any sightings of Japanese submarines near Russia’s maritime border, unlike American ones, which have been on routine patrol missions off the Kamchatka [peninsula] shore and the main base of Russia’s Pacific Fleet in Vilyuchinsk,” Adm. Fyodorov said.

 

This comment came after a report by Russia’s Kommersant daily, which cited a senior military official from the General Staff as saying earlier in the day that a Japanese submarine had been detected Wednesday in the La Perouse Strait, in between the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin and Japan's northern-most home island of Hokkaido.

 

The Russian admiral suggested the Japanese mission so close to the Russian waters was a sign that Tokyo had been beefing up its fleet to restore the Navy. The Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved following World War II, with the Maritime Self-Defense Force being formed in its stead.

 

“A new status would allow Japanese subs to venture outside Japan’s marginal waters and effectively go to anywhere around the world,” Adm. Fyodorov told RIA Novosti.

 

In a similar incident, on August 7 Russia’s Northern Fleet antisubmarine forces detected and drove away a Virginia-class US submarine in the Barents Sea.

Russia to upgrade 2 Pacific Fleet nuclear submarines

Two multi-purpose Project 971 nuclear submarines Samara and Bratsk of the Russian Pacific Fleet will be delivered to the city of Severodvinsk, a nuclear shipbuilding center in Russia’s northern Arkhangelsk region. They will be upgraded at the Zvezdochka military shipyard, the military shipyard’s press service told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday.

 

A dock-ship will deliver nuclear submarines from the Far-Eastern port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Northern Sea Route

Russian Pacific Fleet Warships Enter Mediterranean

A group of warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet entered the Mediterranean waters for the first time in decades, a fleet spokesman said on Thursday

“The task force has successfully passed through the Suez Channel and entered the Mediterranean. It is the first time in decades that Pacific Fleet warships enter this region,” Capt. First Rank Roman Martov said.

The vessels are now en route to Cyprus and are scheduled to make a port call in Limassol.

The group, including the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the amphibious warfare ships Peresvet and Admiral Nevelskoi, the tanker Pechenga and the salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov left the port of Vladivostok on March 19 to join Russia’s Mediterranean task force.

The task force currently includes the large anti-submarine ship Severomorsk, the frigate Yaroslav Mudry, the salvage/rescue tugs Altai and SB-921 and the tanker Lena from the Northern and Baltic Fleets, as well as the Ropucha-II Class landing ship Azov from the Black Sea Fleet.

The task force may be enlarged to include nuclear submarines, Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov said last Sunday.

The Defense Ministry said in April Russia has begun setting up a naval task force in the Mediterranean, sending several warships from the Pacific Fleet to the region. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March a permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean was needed to defend Russia’s interests in the region.

A senior Defense Ministry official said the Mediterranean task force's command and control agencies will be based either in Novorossiysk, Russia, or in Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, head of the parliamentary defense committee, previously told RIA Novosti that the Mediterranean task force should be comprised of 10 warships and support vessels as part of several tactical groups tasked with attack, antisubmarine warfare and minesweeping.

The Soviet Union maintained its 5th Mediterranean Squadron from 1967 until 1992. It was formed to counter the US Navy's 6th Fleet during the Cold War, and consisted of 30-50 warships and auxiliary vessels.

South Korean Warships Visit Russia

Two South Korean destroyers on Sunday arrived to Russia’s Far Eastern port of Vladivostok

Two South Korean destroyers on Sunday arrived to Russia’s Far Eastern port of Vladivostok for a two-day friendly visit, spokesman for Russia’s Pacific Fleet Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov said.

“The welcoming ceremony was held at the Golden Horn Bay,” Martov said. “Pacific Fleet’s missile cruiser Varyag acts as a host ship.”

The S. Korean naval delegation will meet with Pacific Fleet’s command staff and Vladivostok authorities, and lay flowers at the memorial dedicated to Pacific Fleet’s sailors.

The S. Korean sailors will also be given a guided tour of the city and hold sports competitions with their Russian counterparts.

It is the first out of three visits of foreign naval ships to Vladivostok in September 2012.

USS Vandegrift, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate of the U.S. Navy, will visit Vladivostok on September 19-22, while a Japanese naval task force will call at the main base of the Pacific Fleet on September 23 for joint anti-piracy drill.