Russian Fleet Worries Israel

[Purveyor]

Russia’s plans to restore its permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea are causing serious concern in Israel. The Israelis think that the Syrian ports the Russians are most likely to use will turn into major centers of electronic surveillance and air defense centers and, as such, threats to Israel’s national security. Russian experts say that Moscow’s plans are unlikely to come to fruition any time soon. There is neither the money nor the technical capacity for it.

Commander of the Russian Navy Fleet Adm. Vladimir Masorin announced Russia’s plans to return to the Mediterranean at the end of last week in Sevastopol. He did not say whether new bases would be established in the region. It is commonly known, however, that such bases could only be opened in Syria, where ports were used for the same purposes by the USSR. As Kommersant reported on June 2, 2006, Russia is already dredging the port of Tartus and has begun to build a dock in the Syrian port of Latakia. A defense Ministry source at that time revealed that Moscow plans to a squadron of military vessels led by the missile cruiser Moskva to be permanently based in the Mediterranean Sea.

Masorin’s announcement, in which those plans were recalled, has caused serious alarm in Israel. The major Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported yesterday that Israeli intelligence holds that the presence of Russian ships in Syria is a direct threat to Israel’s security. In particular, the bases in Tartus and Latakia will turn into centers of electronic surveillance that will be able to monitor not only Israel, but the entire Middle East. There is also concern in Israel that Russia will share that information with its Muslim partners, especially Syria and possibly Iran. In addition, Russia will certainly create a major air defense system to defend its bases that will be able to defend much of Syria from attack as well.

Russian experts say that it is still too early for Israel to sound alarms. “Only the Soviet Navy had the means to maintain a rapid deployment group of ships in the Mediterranean Sea, and it maintain a permanent squadron in which ships from the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets served in rotation,” former commander of the Black Sea Fleet Eduard Baltin explained. “In addition, a rapid response brigade from the Iberian zone near Gibraltar. Judging by the quantitative makeup of our Navy, it would be very hard to maintain a military presence in Mediterranean. Essentially, we only have the capability to maintain a military-political presence in the region.”

---EOE---

http://www.kommersant.com/p793357/r_542/overseas_military_bases_navy/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Meaning that the Russian fleet might interfere with the American fleet in the region with

the purpose of intimidating if not attacking Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. How long before Lieberman (R-Israel) gets on Chimpy to do something.....

....about it?

[Posteritatis]

3. Isn't the Russian fleet more of a threat to Russian sailors lately?

They aren't exactly bulging with power projection capabilities as of late; I think the Moskva is just about their only major surface combatant that's something approaching seaworthy, for instance, along with a few of the Sovremennyys. Subs, of course, don't need bases in the region to be dangerous.

[Sherman A1]

4. Agreed

I believe that this is not a major issue in any way. Israel might be a bit concerned, but the Russians really don't have the means to project much naval power any more.

[Purveyor]

5. The current condition of Russia's naval fleet is indeed 'strained' however with their newly found

oil wealth, programs are in placed to rectify the sitution.

Here is a recent article discussing some of those plans:

Russia's Navy gets ambitious
14:04 | 31/ 07/ 2007

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov for RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy will become the world's second largest in 20 years' time, said its commander-in-chief, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, speaking ahead of Navy Day.

He said the navy's core would consist of the newest strategic nuclear-powered submarines and six squadrons of aircraft carriers.

For Russia's navy, this will be its third modernization program, said the admiral. The previous two, although giving it a boost, were never completed. Now, said the admiral, there is such a chance.

Recently approved, a rearmament program until 2015 for the first time in Soviet and Russian history puts the development of the navy on an equal footing with strategic nuclear forces. Out of 4.9 trillion rubles ($192.16 billion) allocated for military rearmament, 25% will go into building new ships.

"We are already building practically as many ships as we did in Soviet times," First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said during a visit to Severodvinsk. "The problem now is not lack of money, but how to optimize production so that the navy can get new ships three, not five, years after laying them down."

Ivanov said Russia has a strategy for shipbuilding until 2030 under which warship production is to increase by 50%. For the first time in 15 years, a series of 40 frigates has been laid down, with no less than ten each for the Northern and Baltic fleets. In February 2006, after a 16-year break, the frigate Admiral Sergei Gorshkov had its keel laid down, a surface ship intended for long-range operations in distant seas. The navy has plans for about 20 such ships.

Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, a former commander of the navy, outlined their concept and the strategy for naval development they are to fit into: "We should abandon the existing multitude of ship and aircraft classes. Compact-sized fighting blocks going to make up ships should increase their fire power and reduce research and development costs."

---End of excerpt---

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070731/70008268.html