Login

 

Forgot password?
Vote History of votings
Subscription

Modify subscription

submarines shipbuilding Black Sea Fleet exercise Pacific Fleet Russian Navy Northern Fleet strategy cooperation Ukraine visits Russia piracy missiles trials Sevastopol history Sevmash presence contracts drills Baltic Fleet industry incident anti-piracy shipyards training Gulf of Aden frigate Somalia India developments reforms opinion Borei procurements policy Russia - India aircraft carrier Crimea arms exports USA St. Petersburg tests France financing Bulava Yury Dolgoruky Serdiukov US Navy cruise Mediterranean Zvezdochka NATO innovations United Shipbuilding Corporation Indian Navy Medvedev Arctic agreements commission Admiralteyskie Verfi Admiral Gorshkov Mistral Vladivostok accident hijacking corvettes overhaul Admiral Kuznetsov anniversary Russia - France Rosoboronexport Vysotsky event ceremony Yantar Severomorsk defense order negotiations conflict aircraft China deployment naval aviation Putin investigations Black Sea Varyag coast guard Novorossiysk Vikramaditya landing craft Far East crime marines Severnaya Verf meeting scandals memorials Syria traditions South Korea Japan escort statistics Neustrashimy Yasen tenders Admiral Chabanenko convoys Marshal Shaposhnikov Ukrainian Navy Chirkov problems Severodvinsk reinforcement tension technology firings tragedy Baltic Sea frontier service Almaz search and rescue upgrade hostages Caspian Flotilla provocation Moskva court Dmitry Donskoy Turkey keel laying rumors helicopters death Kilo class shipwreck Admiral Panteleyev Atalanta World War II Petr Veliky Kaliningrad Admiral Vinogradov Norway Rubin delivery launching patrols
Search
Strategy strategy Combat Capability [42%], Role and Missions, Structure of the Navy, in-service ships, surface ships, submarines, chronology.
Our friends russian navy weapons world sailing ships
 
Tell a friend Print version

Home / News / News of the day

NATO continues to build up naval presence in Black Sea

NATO continues to build up naval presence in Black Sea 03.09.2008 Source: en.rian.ru, photo (USNS Pathfinder) from AP Photo by Timur Nisametdinov

NATO is continuing to strengthen its naval task force in the Black Sea, a Turkish military source said on Wednesday.

"A U.S. Pathfinder ship has entered the Black Sea," the source said on condition of anonymity.

USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60) is an oceanographic survey ship owned by Military Sealift Command and has a civilian crew and scientists on board.

However, a Russian military source told RIA Novosti that ships of the Pathfinder class could be used for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering purposes.

"We have reliable information confirming that the [Pathfinder] ship has arrived in the Black Sea primarily to conduct intelligence gathering operations in support of the NATO naval task group currently deployed in the area," the source said.

NATO sent at least five warships, including guided missile frigates, into the Black Sea after Russia completed its operation "to force Georgia to peace" on August 12.

The operation came as a response to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia on August 8.

Another U.S. warship is expected to arrive in the Black Sea in the next few days, a Russian intelligence source said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to the presence of NATO warships in the Black Sea.

"Our response will be calm, not hysterical, but there will definitely be a response," Putin said.

Meanwhile, Admiral Eduard Baltin, a former fleet commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, suggested last week that the NATO naval strike group currently deployed in the area could be destroyed by a single missile salvo within 20 minutes.

"Within 20 minutes the waters would be clear," he said, stressing that despite major reductions, the Black Sea Fleet still has a formidable missile arsenal.

However, Baltin said the chances of a military confrontation between NATO and Russia in the Black Sea were negligible.

"We will not strike first, and they do not look like people with suicidal tendencies," he said.

Back to the list