American ship tested the strength of the Russian border
The us Navy destroyer John McCain was stopped for violating the state border in Peter the Great Bay by the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Vinogradov. The American went two kilometers deep into the territorial waters of Russia. After warning on international communication channels about the readiness of our crew to go to RAM, the destroyer chose to leave the dangerous area. However, this does not mean that such incidents will not happen again. As part of countering the "Russian threat", us and NATO ships and aircraft are increasingly approaching our borders.
Colonel-General Sergei rudskoy, head of the Main operational Department of the General staff of the Russian Armed forces, notes that the United States and its allies began to conduct military air patrols near Russia's state borders five times more often from April to may. "For example, in April of this year, one flight of b-1B strategic bomber aircraft was carried out along the Kamchatka Peninsula, and in may, five such flights were recorded," he said.
The American fleet is no less active. In October of this year, the same "John McCain" already got into the chronicle of incidents. Then it violated the territorial waters of China. The destroyer passed close to the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by Beijing. The representative of China stressed that his country is ready to take "all necessary measures" to ensure its sovereignty and security, as well as stability in the South China sea. The Americans were silent.
The destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) is assigned to the US naval base at Yokosuka in Japan. The us Seventh fleet ship was laid down in 1991 and launched in 1992, and commissioned in 1999. The length of the ship is 153.9 m. the Width is 20.1 m. the Ship can reach a speed of more than 30 knots. The crew is 338 people. It carries 90 launchers that can launch both aegis anti-missile systems and long-range cruise Tomahawks.
Whether this is a lot or a little is a rhetorical question. In 2017, two similar ships from the Mediterranean sea, USS Ross (DDG-71) and USS Porter (DDG-78), launched BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian Shayrat air base in HOMS province. The strike on the object did not cause significant military damage. Several Syrian air force fighter jets in shelters were injured, a runway was destroyed, and several soldiers and civilians were killed. Giving an assessment of this strike, the former Deputy commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Igor Kasatonov, noted the main nuance of what happened: the Americans fired without prior training from the combat duty area.
It is the moment of surprise in a missile strike that makes visits by American ships to Russian shores extremely dangerous. The Ministry of defense reports that simultaneously with the appearance of the destroyer John S. McCain, another one entered the Black sea – Donald Cook. It is also armed with cruise missiles, which is a concern. The Russian foreign Ministry has repeatedly noted that the military presence in The black sea of ships of powers located outside the region does not contribute to strengthening stability. As well as the approach of US and NATO ships to Russian territorial waters in the Baltic, Barents, Bering and Okhotsk seas.
In geopolitical terms, we are talking about control over a strategic transport route – the Northern sea route. In 2019, its cargo turnover from Asia to Europe and back amounted to 26 million tons. This is twice as much as a year earlier. By 2024, it is expected that 80 million tons of cargo will be transported through the Russian Arctic. In addition, the Northern coast of Russia and its territorial waters are the world's most extensive sources of hydrocarbons and other minerals. The oil and gas reserves available here are estimated by experts to be more than 30% of the world's total. Denmark, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and even China claim a share of this pie.
However, this does not stop the US at all. The former commander of the us Coast guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, has repeatedly stated that such routes should be international. "The Northern sea route should be opened as an international water corridor for, if you like, transit passage, as this section is freed from ice," the American argued. And former us Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said it was necessary to expand the presence of the us Navy in the Arctic. And with "more visible" means that would have the potential to deter Russia. For example, such as submarines and submarines with long-range cruise missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk.
Norway also calls for similar steps by its NATO allies. The commander of the main staff of the country's armed forces, Eirik Kristoffersen, said on TV 2 that he would like more joint exercises with the allies to be held in the North of Norway and in the North Atlantic. "Russia does not hide that it has greatly increased its military potential in these areas, and the Norwegians want to monitor its activities," Kristoffersen said. He added that " given the current security situation, we would like to see more frequent joint exercises with our allies in Norway in the future, comparable in scale to the NATO exercises in the 1980s."
The goal of such maneuvers will be only one-to reveal Russia's capabilities in the Arctic region and the far East. Currently, a layered defense system is being built. In the North, six military bases are deployed: on the Islands of Kotelny (Novosibirsk Islands), Alexandra Land (part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago), Sredny (Severnaya Zemlya), as well as in the village of Rogachevo (Novaya Zemlya), Cape Schmidt and Wrangel island (part of the Chukotka Autonomous district). In addition to them, there are more than a dozen military airfields, positions of anti-aircraft missile systems and military ports. All this infrastructure works all year round.
The visit of the destroyer "John McCain" to the territorial waters of Russia can be associated with the desire to test the work of our radar systems, weapons control systems and the fleet's responsiveness to emerging threats. In an interview with RIA Novosti, the President of The Academy of geopolitical problems, doctor of military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov noted that " the surface ship solves the tasks of intelligence in the entire range of means. These are surface intelligence, radar intelligence, radio engineering intelligence, and radio-acoustic intelligence. In particular, he probably checked the operation of our firing stations-in the expectation that our firing stations will turn on to irradiate, prepare for shooting, " said Sivkov.
Against the background of the breakdown of international treaties in the field of arms reduction and control, what is happening does not give cause for optimism. The world is rapidly slipping back to the cold war and the constant expectation of a large-scale conflict. The last time an incident similar to the case of the destroyer "John McCain" occurred in 1988 in the Black sea. Then the patrol ships "Bezzavetny" and "SKR-6" forcibly expelled the cruiser "Yorktown" and the destroyer "Caron"from the territorial waters of the USSR. This was done using a bulk carrier or a battering RAM.
Americans remember that Russians can be rude. The Internet is full of comments on videos of conflict situations during patrols by the Russian military in Syria, where they literally have to push American patrols illegally located in the conflict zone off the road. Apparently, the crew of the destroyer John McCain took this into account, preferring to retreat to a direct conflict. The only question is when it will return to Russian shores again.
Dmitry Litovkin
