Information
The Russian navy has launched a significant exercise involving its fleets across the Arctic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Baltic and Caspian seas. This large-scale manoeuvre, involving approximately 20,000 sailors, 300 vessels including both surface ships and submarines and 50 aircraft, aims to assess the operational readiness of various naval units. The exercises are designed to test the capabilities of the navy’s command structures, ship crews, naval aviation units, and coastal troops in performing a range of military tasks, including the deployment of anti-aircraft missiles and anti-submarine warfare tactics.
Notably absent from this exercise is Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is currently engaged in the conflict in Ukraine. This fleet has faced significant challenges, particularly with adapting to modern drone warfare, resulting in substantial losses from Ukrainian missile and drone attacks. The situation has been severe enough to necessitate a withdrawal from the fleet’s main base in Sevastopol, located on the annexed Crimean Peninsula. In response to these challenges and failures, the Kremlin replaced the head of the navy in March. This manoeuvre highlights Russia’s emphasis on maintaining readiness and capability across its naval forces, despite ongoing conflicts and operational difficulties.
Source: Reuters, dpa, AFP
So what
Global intelligence services and military commentators will likely heavily monitor the effectiveness of these drills, as they will clearly indicate the toll that Ukraine has taken on forces not directly engaged in Ukraine. Russia, well aware of this fact will want to show that it can maintain effective forces globally while engaged in a conflict. However, we would assess that it is likely this is a hollow showing, and even the Russian Navy has been significantly degraded by the conflict in Ukraine. One thing that will be interesting to see is how effective their aviation assets perform in this exercise, laying out how degraded not just their aviation platforms are but also their ground and support crew.
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