Do the Russians Have OPTAR to Burn or What?

Northern and Black Sea Fleet ships will carry out joint exercises in the Med.

A Northern Fleet strike group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov will leave Severomorsk and head for the Mediterranean Sea for exercises with ships of the Black Sea fleet led by the missile cruiser Moskva.

The ships will conduct a month long exercise simulating battle between two strike groups.

"The main goal of the deployment - resolution of operational-strategic tasks and showing the St. Andrew's flag in foreign ports", RIA Novosti quoted sources in the Navy Headquarters.

The Northern Fleet strike group will be on deployment for three months.

Comment: This is pretty big if it happens - when was the last time the Russians had THREE battle groups at sea at once? Plus they're establishing what looks like an East Africa station. Plus they are talking with the Libyans about building a base in Tripoli.

Have the Russians forgotten that oil is closer to $60/bbl and not $120/bbl?

Soviet Naval Disaster of the Day - Severomorsk is Nearly Obliterated, 17 May 1984

This event is never mentioned in print. What is being refered to is the explosion at Okol'naya - the main ammunition storage base for the Northern Fleet. Back then, because of a sailor's cigarette butt, almost half of the fleet's supply of strategic missiles, torpedoes and mines were destroyed in the course of an hour and a half. It was at the end of the work day. Missiles flew above the bay in corkscrew trajectories. One after another, and another...The air was full of howls, crashes, thunder and explosions. In the city as well as on the ships at their moorings in Severomorsk, it was immediately understood - Okol'naya was the source of the fireworks, its granite walls rising just a kilometer from a neighborhood and a few hundred meters from the ships of the 7th Squadron. There were two nuclear submarines acutally tied up at Okol'naya. The "fireworks display" grew. Several mindless missiles corkscrewed into the sky, flying in the direction of the town and the ships. Soon a giant cone of black fire spread in the sky. It slowly rose into the sky, taking on a mushroom form, leading to alarm in the population of the town.



Women ran into the streets with children in their arms, many only half dressed in house coats and slippers, the men running henny-penny with them, certain of them in uniform, giving the scene a weird drama. People ran up the stairs that lead up the slopes of the hills. Someone fell, he was picked up and dragged. Cars jammed the routes out of town. The cars were packed, but despite this they stopped to pick up children which their mothers literally threw into the arms of strangers. Screams, cries, curses - all drowned out by the thunder and howl from the volcano that was Mount Okol'naya. Black with an orange-purple mushroom top, growing to its full height in an instant, nodding toward the town, but afterwards it began to slowly settle in the direction of the tundra and the ocean.

There were casualties. I can confidently talk about two brave people - an officer attempting to extinguish the flames and a sailor staying behind to man his post in a burning storage building. The prevailing wind was in the direction of the town - hundreds, maybe thousands were poisoned by the fallout (the authorities prepared for the evacuation of neighboring Murmansk). A catastrophic ending could have occured with a bombardment by ships with nuclear reactors and full charges in their missile launchers.

This is just a snapshot. Not one town or village would want to live through this. But, judging by all the military units that have had such explosions and fires, even at the sites most suceptible to explosions, it hasn't been foresworn.

Author:
Vladimir Yermolin
June 9th, 2001

First Look - 28 May 2008

Capabilities of the Georgiy Titov Shown Off as Bold Monarch-2008 Continues




Russian Foreign Ministry Asserts: Black Sea Fleet Does Not Pose a Threat to Ukraine

“We pay the Ukrainians a $100 million a year for the facilities.”
The 12,000 Russian sailors and 25,000 Ukrainian employees contribute 15% of Sevastopol’s economy.


Russia Hasn’t Raised the Issue of Extending the Fleet’s Tenure in Ukraine.

The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dorokhin noted that, “We have never hid the fact that we would like to maintain our presence in Sevastopol’ past 2017”, and added that “the fleet has been there 225 years.”


The Oceangoing Minesweeper “Zheleznyakov” Has Commenced Operations in “Black Sea Harmony”

The Black Sea Fleet oceangoing minesweeper “Zheleznyakov” has gotten underway from Novorossiysk to take part in bi-lateral training with the Turkish Navy in “Black Sea Harmony”.

Operational control during the anti-terrorism exercise is effected from the permanent coordination center in the Turkish port of Eregli working with the Black Sea Fleet command post in Divnomorskoye, Russia, established to support effective participation of Russian Black Sea Fleet forces in international exercises in the Black Sea.


Black Sea Fleet Gets High Marks for the Winter Training Cycle

Results of the surface ship winter training cycle were presented at the Officer’s Club in Sevastopol’.

…In all, 18 exercises were carried out and there were 154 separate combat exercises conducted upon land, sea and air targets.

Singled out for special recognition were the crews of the missile cruiser “Moskva” and the Large Landing Ship “Tsezar’ Kunikov” for the successful tasks completed during deployment.

…The Black Sea Fleet flagship, the missile cruiser “Moskva” was named best ship for its outstanding preparation in 10 different areas, while the escort ship “Ladnyy”, large ASW ship “Kerch’” and the large landing ships “Tsezar’ Kunikov”, “Yamal” and “Saratov” also received high marks.


Northern Fleet Tight Lipped About Their Winter Training Cycle Results

The Northern Fleet press service reports that the Northern Fleet Vice Admiral Nikolay Maksimov held a meeting of the Northern Fleet Military Council in the Officer’s Club to discuss the results of the winter training cycle with the commanders of the units and detachments of the Northern Fleet.

The fleet command gave a detailed analysis of the training, pointed out the deficiencies and outlined the summer training plan.