Russian Carrier Group Heads for Mediterranean!

An 11 ship russian carrier task force is headed for the Mediterranean as part President Putin's push to upgrade the Russian Military! It seems the Russians and others consider the U.S. as weak, like W. is considered weak politically by the American People!

Russian Carrier Task Force

Maybe its time to open up a new board "World War III Watch"

Stay tune!

That's going to make the Med a very interesting place. The USS Harry Truman and her strike group have been there conducting exercises with several other countries, and I believe are conduction air operations from there.

What really makes this scarry is the Russian Navy is one of the most inept military institutions in the world. I fear a self inflicted accident by Russia could lead to bit of mess, if you know what I mean. In addition, Putin is putting almost half of his blue surface force in potential harms way!

It's kind of a catch-22 for the Truman group. Stay and risk something bad happening, or leave and let them say they ran off a US carrier group and the US is scared of their navy.

The status of the Navy has Truman in the 5th fleet, which I guess could be anywhere in the middle east including the Med. I also, see that the Enterprise is in the Med, looks like that little bath tub could get crowded!

US Navy Status

Truman is currently docked in Naples. They've already rescued 5 stranded sailors on a life raft.

Enterprise is departing the area soon. Not sure exactly when she gets home, but they're selling first hug/first kiss tickets already, along with return breakfast tickets, so she's heading home soon. They had VIPs aboard on Friday.

my thinking about this is that the Russians are preparing for retaliation against Israel if it unilaterally attacks Iran based upon the floored evidence the US has been showing them.

I do not beleive the US will go into Iran now (officially) thou covert actions would be probably still going on now as we speak.

The Russians are just trying to exert influence and flex their muscles the same way the US is doing now.

It would be very wise for both sides to tow the line at this point.

I do not believe that has anything to do with Israel or U.S. exercises.

For one thing, Russia has been holding talks with Syria for about 5 years now about a construction of a Russian navy sea port in Tartus, Syria. This would give Russia access to the Mideterranean as well as a place to position their Black Sea Fleet, which is being moved out of Crimea but cannot be accommodated by Russian Black Sea bases alone. This would also give Syria access to new Russian military contracts and possible long-term cooperation.

Another thing that is being discussed in Russia, is that this exercise has something to do with Kosovo's upcoming independence issue. Serbia just announced that it will be forced to take extraordinary measures if its province of Kosovo is forcefully separated by NATO. Meanwhile NATO is hellbent on getting through with this independence by the end of December/January. Serbia has recently improved and strengthened its relations with Russia. Although nothing has been announced by Russia, some suspect there is a military alliance forming between the two - and that would not surprise anyone - Russians approve of it, Serbians approve of it, and Putin is eager to tests new ground.

So if military conflict breaks out in Kosovo, Russia could use its fleet to stage similar operations to the ones it staged in the first NATO Yugoslavian War when a small Russian contingent took key installations in Prishtine. Only this time if Russia is involved you can bet it will be on a larger scale, as a means to prevent NATO's actions. I don't know the exact positioning, but during part its exercises the carrier group will be based in the Adriatic, fairly close to lend support to Serbia should it become needed. What is the U.S. carrier group there for I have no idea. It might have something to do with Kosovo as well. At this point all of this is at best, pure speculation, but it is the best explanation I heard for the timing and the location of this exercise.



And speaking of Kosovo - NATO is really getting themselves into deeper and deeper **** with Kosovo. Now that they are involved and it is eating up into the budget, with all the peacekeepers and contingent groups there, they are looking for a quick way out. Kosovo will open the pandora's box for Europe, and everyone and anyone who wants independence there will up their resistance in hopes of similar "assisted separation by force" that Kosovo has achieved. Too bad no one is paying much attention to this. A new Yugoslavian conflict is in its final stages of development.

The Truman and Enterprise were there doing exercises with several countries in the region. They do two or three exercises a year with them. They did one during the summer, and just completed another one.

Originally posted by Melbourne_Militia
my thinking about this is that the Russians are preparing for retaliation against Israel if it unilaterally attacks Iran based upon the floored evidence the US has been showing them.

Why would Russia risk everything attacking Israel to help out of all countries - Iran? For one - Russia is not a military ally of Iran, and gave no indication that it is going to be one. In addition to this the Russian carrier group is hardly capable of staging an attack on a well defended power such as Israel, and is virtually incapable of achiving any meaningful victory. Russia would also not risk provoking the U.S. into a conflict which is Israel's main ally.

The only thing the Russian carrier group is capable of, is providing Russia's airpower presence where it is needed - however small it might be. It can also be a base for small contingent of paratroopers and transport helicopters. It cannot stage a major attack as U.S. carrier groups can.

Kosovo is widely different from Israel on the other hand - in that NATO does not give as much **** about it as U.S. does about Israel and Iran. If Russia intervenes to help Serbs in Kosovo, NATO will surely back down, because the only thing NATO really needs there is an exuse to leave.

Originally posted by Melbourne_Militia
The Russians are just trying to exert influence and flex their muscles the same way the US is doing now.

That's true. But Russia stands nothing to gain from intimidating Israel. Russia is simply trying to send a message to the US that its opinion matters, especially when it comes to Kosovo and Serbs - Russians long-time allies. US and NATO should back down with Kosovo, if only because it has much bigger things to worry about in the Middle East. If US backs down on Kosovo and gives Russia and Serbia what they want, Russia might be more lenient in negotiations with US about Iran and missile shield in Europe. Right now there are just too many issues of contention between the two, and they are complicating foreign policies for both. Kosovo should not be one of these complications.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by maloy]

[edit on 9-12-2007 by maloy]

Israel has ICBMs and upwards of 500 nukes. If they want to take out Moscow and then some, they can do so. Russia knows this and will not push Israel into a corner.

Maloy is right about this one. Its all about Kosovo. NATO has allot of navy power in the region and I'm sure they see the Russian naval force as a message to back off on the Kosovo issue but not much of a threat except that any exchange of fire between the two would lead to a huge war. I hope that they do not push Russia into a corner on the Kosovo issue because they will back Serbia with force if necessary.

My spell check recomends that I change Kosovo to kiss-off lol.

I dont think it is anything for alarm..It looks as if it is normal "muscle fexing" and it look as if they have done it a few times...

how do we know they arent going there to preform those excerises with us, meaning the us and the nations we train with. i know most arent gonna buy that. but its possible this is nothing to lose sleep over.

Originally posted by DaleGribble
how do we know they arent going there to preform those excerises with us

I seriously doubt that at this moment Russia is up for cooperation with US. Russia and US currently have the most strained relations since the end of the Cold War.

For another thing - I do not think this is simple exercises. The Russian military is barely capable to keep its current fleet operational yet alone embark on costly exercises for no reason whatsoever.

I assumed it was for the serbia/kosovo talks failing...

Russia wouldnt send in something so pitiful in the face of America's navy... if indeed it was in protection for Iran etc etc.

Kosovo has the potential to heat up rapidly...

So, the ruskies are there to monitor...

Yeah, I agree with the Kosovo aspect of this whole scenario, that totaly skipped my mind. What I find very interesting in regards to the Kosovo issue, is why does Europe and NATO seem so hellbent on giving Kosovo independance?

Kosovo was never a republic on its own right and it was the place where trouble started in 1989 with the street protests that brought on Serbian retaliation and started the domino effect of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Kosovo isnt worth anything to anyone, and it seems to me, thou I could be wrong, that this is just NATO trying to make some sort of point to a Russian Ally, being Serbia.

What, really has NATO to gain with an autonomous Kosovo?????

I dont think that Kosovo is really worth any side fighting over, just let the serbs keep it and everything will stay as it is.

You guys seem really knowledgeable so I will take what you say as pseudo-gospel. Still I do have a question. One of you mentioned that Russia is not a Military ally of Iran and therefore would not be in the region to aid Iran if Israel were to attack. While I believe that Russia is not there to start a fight with Israel, is it not Iran from which Russia gets most of its oil?

People get pretty panicky over oil these days, citizens and governments alike. I was under the impression that Russia and China were really dependent on Iran for oil and that they would back up Iran if something were to go down...like the US or Israel attacking them.

I admit I have a lot to learn about politics, political conflict, wars, etc but this seemed like solid logic to me. I would love to hear your take guys.

Salutations...

Carrier group? Bah! Its only a jump carrier similar to what the British deploy. I'm sure Putin wants to flex his Russian muscles. But their carrier is no match for any of our full-size carriers.

The lines have been drawn. Swords have been sharpened. And we're in the name-calling stage.

What i would be worried about is Russia's break off of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe CFE treaty which would allow them to deploy ground forces to Easter Europe, thusly Kosovo, or what will be after January 1st when they unilaterally declare independence, Russia has taken a huge stance that if the West recognizes the UDI, there will be SERIOUS consequences seen in the Balkans and elsewhere around the globe. THe naval excersise is seen to perhaps be a new start to a new Naval cold war weapons build up in the Med. Perhaps gaining Syrian and Iranian ships and subs armed with the Russian "Sizzle" missles the fleet will be able to Challenge the NATO fleet in the Med. The Russian fleet will also be able to significantly improve its intellegence gaining ablities once there, intercepting communications and spotting arms systems on the coast. Scary stuff.