Russian Task Force En Route To Syria Enters Med

      From Defense News:

MOSCOW — A Russian naval flotilla of warships destined for the Syrian port of Tartus has entered the Mediterranean, Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday.

“The Russian ships today passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean at 1200 GMT,” said a defense ministry spokesman, quoted by Itar-Tass agency.

Led by the Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine destroyer, the three landing craft left their home port of Severomorsk in the Arctic Circle earlier this month. They are due to be joined in the Mediterranean by the Russian patrol ship Yaroslav Mudry as well as an assistance vessel.

The ships will perform “planned military maneuvers”, said the ministry. Earlier in the month a military source said the ships would be topping up on supplies of fuel, water and foodstuffs.

Russia has denied that the deployment is linked to the escalating conflict in Syria.

     This is at least the second time the Russian Navy has sailed to Syria since the conflict, as the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov arrieved in Syria in December of 2011. As to why Russia is doing this again, it is probably to deliver arms, and/or evacuate Russians from Syria.

Flashback Friday 6/29: Landing Craft Support, Large

     This week's Flashback Friday looks at the first LCS, the Landing Craft Support, Large. The LCS(L) was developed soon after the Battle of Tarawa, when shortcomings were found in the Navy's ability for close fire support for amphibious landings.  

     The LCS(L) carried an armament of  a 1 3"/50 gun and twin 40mm cannon on the bow and a twin 40mm cannon on the stern. Along with 4 20mm cannons and 4 12.7mm machine guns scattered thoughout the ship.  The LCS(L)s were a small ship with a displacement of 250 tons, a length of a 48.5m, a beam of 7m, and a draft of 2m. While they were small, the LCS(L)s were large enough to cross the open ocean on their own, albiet slowly with a top speed of 16.5 knots with a range of 8000km. 

    The LCS(L)s fought in the liberation of the Philippines, at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Borneo among others. The photo above shows LCS(L)(3)-8 off the coast of Corregidor in 1945, Later as the war progressed, after amphibious landing, the LCS(L)s were pressed into service as radar picket ships used to spot incoming air raids. LCS(L)s were also used on "skunk patrols" to watch for Japanese suicide boats attempting to attack landing areas. After WWII the surviving LCS(L)s were transferred to navies of France, Japan, Thailand, and Greece among others.  

     As of 2012, out of 130 LCS(L)s only one has survived, LCS(L)-102, which at the end of WWII was transferred to Japan who later transferred it to Thailand. In Thai service she was renamed HTMS Nakha, and served a patrol boat from 1966 to 2007 when she was given back to the U.S. to be used a museum ship.

    The LCS(L) was an example of a type of ship that was meant to fill a gap, and was cheap, expendable, and could be mass produced. The LCS(L) had her origins in several makeshift solutions for close in fire support in the South Pacific, including the modification of Higgins boats to carry several machine guns, among others. Later on Navy brass took notice and built on that concept, and produced the LCS(L). The LCS(L) packed a large punch into a small hull, and was easy to maintain and operate. Today the LCS designation has been assigned to the Littoral Combat Ship which has a number of shortcomings, and is a poor successor to the LCS(L).  Either way one looks at the LCS(L) it was a excellent ship, and performed it's mission well, and was an excellent patrol craft after the war. They were truly, to quote the men who served on them, the "Mighty Midgets".

For a more in-depth profile I highly recommend a post done on the same subject by XBRADTC over at Bring the heat, Bring the stupid.

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy and NavSource Photo Archives

    

Russia Sending 2 Amphibs To Syria

     From Defense News: 

     

MOSCOW — Russia is preparing to send two warships to the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow operates a strategic naval base, to ensure the safety of its nationals, the Interfax news agency reported June 18.

The report comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to meet his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos later June 18 amid tensions over Syria clouding bilateral ties.

"Two major amphibious ships — The Nikolai Filchenkov and The Tsezar Kunikov — are preparing to be dispatched to Tartus outside of their schedule," the Russian news agency quoted an unidentified officer from the Russian naval headquarters as saying.

The two ships will carry a "large" group of Marines, Interfax added. There was no official confirmation of the report from the navy or the defense ministry.

The Tsezar Kunikov can carry 150 landing troops and various armaments including tanks, while The Nikolai Filchenkov can carry up to 1,500 tons of cargo and equipment, the report said.

Interfax said the ships could be used to evacuate Russian nationals.

"The crews of The Nikolai Filchenkov and The Tsezar Kunikov and SB-15 rescue tug together with Marines onboard are able to ensure security of Russian nationals and evacuate part of the property of the logistical support base if need be," Interfax quoted a source as saying.

The protracted conflict between the ruling regime and the opposition in Syria shows no signs of easing.

The opposition has demanded the deployment of armed peacekeepers after U.N. observers halted their work because of bloodshed.

Russia and its ally China have previously blocked earlier attempts at the U.N. Security Council to condemn Damascus and have shielded Assad's regime from further pressure amid accusations that Moscow has been sending weapons to Damascus.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of fueling the violence by sending attack helicopters to Syria, which she said were "on the way" and would "escalate the conflict quite dramatically."

Russia angrily retorted that it was not making any new deliveries and had only carried out repairs of helicopters sent there many years ago.

Syria, one of the few countries to back Russia in its war with Georgia in 2008, is Moscow's close ally from the Soviet era and a major purchaser of its arms.

Putin's predecessor at the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev, traveled to Damascus in 2010 in the first ever visit to the country by a Russian or Soviet head of state.

During talks with Assad, he promised Russian assistance to Syria in reconstructing its oil and gas infrastructure and even in building a nuclear power station.

Over the past months, the Kremlin has distanced itself from Assad but is sticking to its hard line, ruling out foreign intervention and insisting Assad's fate should be decided by Syrians themselves.

    This isn't the first time Russia has sent ships to Syria during the upheaval, as they sent the Admiral Kuznetsov to Tarus last December. However, with the prospect of amphibs going to Syria, they will almost certainly be carrying munitions and maybe even soldiers. Assad owes Russia 6 billion dollars, and the Russians need hard cash, and they will not allow Assad to fall before he pays them. 

    Frankly, I think that bit about evacuating civilians and their support base are just a cover story for shipping supplies to Assad.

Varyag: Is It A Threat?

     With all the talk that China will use the Varyag to rule the western Pacific, I would like to explain why the Varyag will NOT be a SERIOUS threat to the U.S. military or the U.S.'s interests in the region.

     First, the Chinese navy has no experience with carrier operations, specifically: operating cat and trap systems, landing aircraft on a moving surface, replenishing large ships while underway, and launching, arming, fueling, and repairing aircraft in heavy seas. On top of that all these shortcomings are aggravated during combat operations, as all activities will have to be done faster, at the same time with an increased degree of precision. 

     Second, the Varyag is of the Admiral Kuznetsov-class, and has a relatively small air wing of 26 fixed-wing aircraft (J-15, New AEW&C aircraft), and 24 helicopters (Ka-27), for a grand total of 50 aircraft. 50 aircraft is decent number for a second-tier military (Britain, France, Spain, etc...), but in a drawn out war with the U.S., 50 aircraft (of which less than half are fighters) will be nothing. Against 5+ American supercarriers, each carrying 100 aircraft, 50+ of which are fighters (not including aircraft from Japan, Guam, South Korea, and possibly the Philippines), 20 +/- fighters will be nothing. 

     Third, China has no escorts for the Varyag. One of the most important things needed to operate an aircraft carrier is destroyers for ASW (anti-submarine warfare) and air defense. You also need submarines to make sure no enemy submarines get close enough to take a shot at the Varyag or any of the escorts. China has both of these types of ships, but either in limited quantity or of lousy quality or both (China's nuclear submarines make enough underwater noise to make a U2 concert sound quiet). China does have diesel electric Kilo-class subs that are extremely quiet, but are too slow to escort a carrier task force. China also is beginning to build Type 052C destroyers which have a greater air defense capability than previous classes, and will probably form the backbone of Chinese carrier task forces.

     Fourth, the Chinese will need a much better supply system to keep the Varyag at sea for extended periods of time. As of June 2011 the Chinese navy has a rather limited at-sea supply system, which is essential for operating an aircraft carrier(s). 

     While the Varyag is the only aircraft carrier the Chinese have, it will not pose a serious threat to the U.S.military. However, the Chinese military has expressed interest in building more carriers, but until the Chinese are able to field 3+ carriers with large air wings, the Varyag will not pose a serious threat.

     

      

Aircraft Carriers: The Newest Trend In Deterrence

     The photo above is a picture of the USS Texas, which is literally the last dreadnought, and a distant cousin of today's aircraft carriers.
     When the dreadnought era began with the launching of the HMS Dreadnought, a massive arms race began with countries all over the world racing to build dreadnoughts, to either deter other countries from attacking them or to intimidate surrounding countries. The same goes for aircraft carriers to some extent, if you don't have an aircraft carrier(s) you are at risk of having distant territories taken (Britain & the Falklands) or being bullied by another country.
     However, aircraft carriers today are not as all-powerful as they were through the late 1940s to the mid 1960s before modern anti-ship missiles like the AS-4 "Kitchen" came into service. New threats to aircraft carriers continue to arise, such as anti-ship ballistic missiles like the DF-21D and ever quieter submarines (a similar situation was the advent of naval aviation and the threat to battleships). To further aggravate the problem is that navies like the U.S. Navy build ever larger carriers like the Gerald R. Ford-class, which concentrates the Navy's air power in 11 or so locations that every country with a space program knows.
     I am not saying aircraft carriers are obsolete, far from it. I am saying carriers are an integral part of a country's national security, but instead of large size and limited quantity, they must be of small size (30,000 to 70,000 tons), and a larger quantity (12-20 for the U.S.). Aircraft carriers that would be examples of this would be the Queen Elizabeth-class and the USS America (LHA-6), both of which are relatively small compared to American super carriers (72,000 & 45,000 long tons compared to 100,000+ long ton Nimitz-class carriers).
     With aircraft carriers continuing to increase in size, and new threats constantly appearing, it will be in the next 25 years that the aircraft carrier really and truly comes of age as a new Cold War begins in the Pacific Ocean, and the aircraft carrier shows what it can really do.
   


Photo Credit: Daniel Schwen

It's Official: Russia Buys Two French Mistral-class Amphibious Assault Ships

     On Friday Russia signed a deal worth 1.6 billion dollars, for 2 Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, as Defense Tech reports. The deal also reportedly includes initial logistics, training and technology transfer. 

     The deal for 2 Mistrals has been in the works for about a year, and only now has it been completed. The deal was held up for some time over objections from former Soviet states like Estonia, Latvia, Georgia over the growing Russian military, and the threat the Mistrals would pose to them.

     The Mistral-class was developed to increase the amphibious capabilities of the French Navy and allow the French to perform raids, withdrawals and amphibious assaults. The Mistral-class can carry up to 900 troops for a short time, and between 60 and 70 vehicles. The Mistral-class can handle up to 16 medium helicopters (NH-90, Tiger) or up to 35 light helicopters, which could be stored in the hanger or on deck. The Mistral-class has a displacement of 21,300 tons with a full load, and a displacement of 16,500 tons when empty. 

     With Russia rebuilding it's military, it will be interesting to see how the former Soviet states and the world will react to this purchase.     

     

Photo Credit: Wikipedia