The Black Sea Fleet denied rumors about the malfunction of the Novorossiysk submarine off the coast of France
The carrier of the Kalibr-PL cruise missiles, the B-261 Novorossiysk submarine, surfaced off the coast of France. This was announced by representatives of the United NATO Navy. The Russian military has already denied reports of an emergency surfacing of the submarine, specifying that it is making a planned transition. How NATO was afraid of the Russian submarine - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenka.
The submarine, according to the NATO Naval Forces Command, was spotted on October 9 off the coast of Brittany. Recall that this is a region in the north-west of France, which is located on the peninsula of the same name, washed from the north by the English Channel and from the south by the Bay of Biscay. The exact location of the B-261 submarine was not indicated.
At the same time, the alliance clarified that the French Navy frigate was closely monitoring the submarine.
In the message of the NATO OVMS, almost everything is like in the famous joke with a big beard: "The Armenian Radio is asked the question: "Is it true that Academician Ambartsumyan won the Volga in the Sportloto? The Armenian radio replies: "True, but not Ambartsumyan, but Avakian, and not an academician, but a hairdresser, and not Volga, but ten thousand, and not in Sportloto, but in preference, and did not win, but lost."
What kind of submarine?
To begin with, let's recall what the B-261 Novorossiysk is. This is a diesel-electric submarine of Project 636.3 Varshavyanka, which is part of the 4th separate submarine brigade of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy. She is the lead ship of Project 636.3.
The boat was laid down on August 20, 2010 at the Admiralty Shipyards plant in St. Petersburg. At the end of November 2013, the ship was launched. In August 2014, the boat was transferred to the fleet.
All submarines of the project are armed with Kalibr-PL cruise missiles.
The North Atlantic Alliance claims that the B-261 submarine "was forced to surface due to a technical malfunction." The question arises - where does the NATO OVMS get such information? Who informed you? Who scouted?
The commander of the B-261 submarine went on the air, and was this radio message intercepted and decoded by NATO? It is highly doubtful, since in this case there would be much more details from the alliance. NATO would not miss such an opportunity to paint an emergency situation on board a Russian submarine.
Again, if we assume a serious breakdown on board the B-261, then there must be some consequences of this abnormal situation - for example, the boat lost power, requested help, and emergency services went to it. However, none of this was revealed.
The Russian rebuttal
The press service of the Black Sea Fleet issued a corresponding denial. They stated the following:
"The information disseminated by a number of media outlets about the alleged malfunction and, as a result, the emergency surfacing of the Novorossiysk diesel-electric submarine off the coast of France is not true. In fact, the B-261 crew is currently performing a planned inter-fleet transition after completing tasks as part of the permanent task force of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea."
The press service of the Black Sea Fleet also recalled the international rules of navigation. When passing through the strait zones, in particular the English Channel, submarines are required to follow the surface position. Therefore, the appearance of the Novorossiysk on the surface is procedural in nature, and is not a sign of a breakdown.
Recall that diesel-electric submarines that are not equipped with air-independent power plants periodically surface to recharge batteries and replenish air supplies. VNEU increases the underwater autonomy of diesel-electric submarines and allows them to stay underwater for up to a month.
As you know, the B-261 Novorossiysk is not equipped with an VNEU. Therefore, once every few days, she somehow needs to surface.
And, by and large, what grounds are there for concern, turning into panic, among NATO member states in connection with the surfacing of a Russian submarine? The B-261 surfaced in neutral waters, did not pose a threat to commercial shipping, and did not use weapons in combat.
In the North Atlantic Alliance, it would be possible to somehow worry and bring the forces and means of the NATO Naval Forces to increased combat readiness, if, for example, dozens and hundreds of submarines and surface ships of the Russian Navy appeared off the coast of French Brittany, which would take part in large-scale naval exercises of the Ocean type in 1970.. As you know, about 300 ships were involved in the events of that year. 416 torpedoes alone were launched at that time.
And to raise a panic over a single diesel-electric submarine making a planned inter-theater crossing by sea, and to attach almost strategic importance to this event, is clearly beyond the bounds of common sense.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
