Posted on 04/21/2016 5:40:31 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
NAPLES, Italy — Russian attack submarines, the most in two decades, are prowling the coastlines of Scandinavia and Scotland, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic in what Western military officials say is a significantly increased presence aimed at contesting American and NATO undersea dominance.
Adm. Mark Ferguson, the United States Navy’s top commander in Europe, said last fall that the intensity of Russian submarine patrols had risen by almost 50 percent over the past year, citing public remarks by the Russian Navy chief, Adm. Viktor Chirkov. Analysts say that tempo has not changed since then.
The patrols are the most visible sign of a renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government has spent billions of dollars for new classes of diesel and nuclear-powered attack submarines that are quieter, better armed and operated by more proficient crews than in the past.
The tensions are part of an expanding rivalry and military buildup, with echoes of the Cold War, between the United States and Russia. Moscow is projecting force not only in the North Atlantic but also in Syria and Ukraine and building up its nuclear arsenal and cyberwarfare capacities in what American military officials say is an attempt to prove its relevance after years of economic decline and retrenchment.
Independent American military analysts see the increased Russian submarine patrols as a legitimate challenge to the United States and NATO. Even short of tensions, there is the possibility of accidents and miscalculations. But whatever the threat, the Pentagon is also using the stepped-up Russian patrols as another argument for bigger budgets for submarines and anti-submarine warfare.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ah, for the old days at the ASWAC!
-—But whatever the threat, the Pentagon is also using the stepped-up Russian patrols as another argument for bigger budgets for submarines and anti-submarine warfare.-—
Call me a cynic, but for the ‘follow the money’ crowd, looks like the neocons win big in this underwater dog-and-pony show.
Has Obama read this yet?
2008-2016:
Russia BOLSTERS...Everything.
America APOLOGIZES and cutsback.
America on the road to suicide.
And the New York Times agitating for the neocons. The Europeans are aiding in Muslim invasion and are prepared to compromise their culture and history. The US should defend her own hemisphere and let the Europeans clean up their own messes.
That works great until Pearl Harbor or 9/11 happen because we are ignoring the signs.
How’s that reset working out for yinz?
That’s only because those that should have been at the ready in their hemisphere - that included Hawaii - were asleep at the wheel. Furthermore, it’s time the Europeans put their GNP to defending themselves.
Actually, they do defend themselves. We just prefer to stay in the game so we know what the Russkies are doing.
The Russians are not in the position to invade anyone. All they can basically do is impress foreign countries (who need weapons) with their military hardware. That was one of the reasons for that whole Syria operation. Look at all the videos the Russians created showing their hardware at work.
Reagan policies strengthened the US economy and destroyed the Soviet Union. Obama policies weakened the US economy and renewed the Soviet Union. There’s a lesson here, for anyone who wants to heed it.
The prospect of Russia, or any other rogue nation damaging internet traffic by cutting undersea cables is a bit disturbing. There are significant numbers of these in all the world’s oceans.
Just because Japan was building runways on Pacific atolls before Pearl Harbor? :-/
I read somewhere that it meant overcharged instead of reset.
“One ping only”
:)
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