Hornets’ nest: Massive drills across Russia, 20 ships in Baltic Sea (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Russia is getting ready to counteract and repel land-sea-air military aggression on its western, northern, southern and eastern borders simultaneously, as massive drills of all military branches are underway across Russia.
Motorized infantry, combat aviation and Spetznaz troops have been put on alert in all nine time zones of the Russian Federation, including the Volga region, Urals, Western Siberia, the Far East region and the Pacific, the North Caucasus and along the borders of NATO member states from the Arctic through to the Baltic and Black Sea.
The ongoing military drills are taking place concurrently with US military exercises in the Baltic region and NATO naval drills in the Black Sea.
Russia has notified the countries of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of the Northern Fleet exercises that are happening March 16-21, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov announced on Tuesday.
The operational zone of the Northern Fleet’s drills has been expanded to the Norwegian Sea, and the number of deployed naval task groups has been increased to five, the Defense Ministry reported.
„The commanding staff of the Northern Fleet has decided to build up the contingent involved in training missions to defend Russia’s borders in the Arctic,” the ministry said in a statement.
More than 20 ships of the Russia’s Baltic Fleet are out at sea conducting defense drills, the Russian Western Military District’s press service announced on Wednesday. The ships, deployed in several tactical groups, are performing artillery, anti-submarine and air defense exercises. Part of the training has been assigned for nighttime.
A tactical group of the Russian Black Sea fleet will hold military exercises on Thursday, targeting decoy enemy bombers and battleships.
Paratroopers from the Ivanovo Airborne Division have been relocated inside the Arctic Circle next to the Norwegian border on Ilyushin Il-76 airlifters to train countering subversive groups, maintain anti-aircraft defense, perform engineering and radiation reconnaissance and sharpen field camouflage skills.
The Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday that Russian marines from Temryuk in south Russia’s Krasnodar region have been put on full combat readiness and are training next to the Kerch Strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The units are conducting exercises in conditions similar to real military activities, using simulation tools to train counteracting subversive groups and repelling enemy amphibious assault landings.
Russia’s strategic command has put mechanized troops of the Eastern Military District, deployed on the island of Sakhalin in the Pacific, on the highest levels of combat alert. Up to 3,000 troops and nearly 1,000 military vehicles are training defense of the coast in close cooperation with the Air Force.
Over 30 army aviation crews are being relocated from airfields in the Leningrad and Smolensk regions to a military airfield in the Arctic. Mil Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters are set to cover over 1,500 kilometers with a stopover for refueling in the Karelia region.
About 80 military pilots of the Eastern Command are taking part in ‘Airdarts’ contest that includes performing air stunts, bomb-dropping and unguided missiles firing, using Su-25, Su-27SM, Su-24M2 assault and fighter jets.
Assault helicopter pilots are training live ammo shooting, ultra-low flying and evading air defenses.
Over 2,000 engineer troops and 350 special vehicles of the Central Military Command are training in demining all types of military explosives, using brand-new standoff IED detection vehicles.
The ongoing snap check of the military involves about 76,000 troops, over 10,000 units of military hardware and special equipment, 65 battleships,16 support vessels, 15 submarines, 200 warplanes and helicopters.
In December 2014, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced plans to conduct at least 4,000 military drills in 2015.
http://rt.com/news/241745-russia-offensive-defense-drills/
Russia to Deploy Missiles to Kaliningrad, Bombers to Crimea as Part of Massive Military Drills
Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles in its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games to showcase its resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over Ukraine.
The Russian military exercises this week range from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean and involve tens of thousands of troops, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The Iskander missiles will be sent to the Kaliningrad region that borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania as part of the maneuvers, said a Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly.
The official also said Russia will deploy long-range, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine a year ago.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the Baltic Fleet, the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces have been brought to the highest stage of combat readiness and have started moving to shooting ranges as part of the drills.
The wide-ranging exercise started Monday, when President Vladimir Putin ordered the Northern Fleet and other military forces on combat alert as part of the exercise in the Arctic. Other units in the Pacific region, southern Siberia and southwestern Russia also launched drills.
The Iskander missiles deployment to Kaliningrad reflects Moscow’s readiness to raise the ante in response to NATO moves to deploy forces closer to Russia’s borders. The missiles, which are capable of hitting enemy targets up to 500 kilometers (310 miles away) with high precision, can be equipped with a nuclear or a conventional warhead. From Kaliningrad, they could reach several NATO member states.
Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz interpreted the move as an attempt by Russia to pressure EU nations as they consider possible new sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
„Russia is making this gesture before the European Council meeting,” she said. „It is trying to influence European Council decisions concerning extending or adding new sanctions.”
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, which holds the EU presidency, said Tuesday he did not expect „a discussion of new sanctions or any decisions” when EU leaders meet Thursday in Brussels.
Igor Sutyagin, a Russia expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said beefing up forces in the Baltic exclave was a top priority for the Russian military.
Iskander missiles already had been sent briefly to Kaliningrad during December’s military maneuvers, but were pulled back afterward.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, has termed Russia’s „threats to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad” part of what he called the Kremlin’s „pattern of continuing behavior to coerce its neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe.”
The Kremlin, in its turn, has voiced concern about U.S. plans to beef up its military presence near Russia’s borders. Later this month, U.S. troops are holding joint exercises with forces from EU nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Four Polish NATO MiG-29s flew training missions in Lithuania on Monday, under the command and control of an alliance AWACS surveillance aircraft in a small corridor between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. The mission — described as ‘routine’ by NATO officials — prompted the Russian military in Kaliningrad to scramble half a dozen fighter jets to monitor the exercise.
Monday’s AWACS mission was flying from Oerland airbase, near Trondheim in Norway. The AWACS flights were part of efforts to reassure NATO members in eastern Europe, in particular the Baltic states, which are concerned about Russia’s intentions amid the Ukrainian crisis.
http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/18/4615
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