Wednesday, May 7, 2014

THE BEAR IS BEEFING UP IN THE BLACK SEA



'MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquartered in the Crimea region that recently reunified with Russia will be beefed up with a slew of next-generation warships and submarines, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.
“This year, our sea bases will host new air defense and marine regiments,” Shoigu said.
“This year, the Black Sea Fleet will get new submarines and next-generation surface ships, and all of this requires our immediate attention,” the minister said during a conference call."   READ RIA NOVOSTI'S  ENTIRE ENGLISH VERSION:  http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140506/189614031/New-Ships-Subs-to-Boost-Russias-Black-Sea-Fleet-in-Crimea.html

EDITORIAL NOTE: Keep in mind when you read this that this is a Russian news paper writing in English. They make it sound like the U.S. and /or the Eu are a threat to the region. In fact based on an international convention sponsored by Turkey ships of nations that don't border on the Black Sea are limited both in total numbers allowed in the sea at a time and in the duration of their stay. The convention is enforced by Turkey ( A NATO member) which controls the narrow entrance. So Russia can build up as large a fleet as it wants or can afford while Ukraine, Turkey, and Georgia can't even host visiting allies beyond a limited number of vessels for a short period of time. The Black Sea is now a Russian lake. We failed to stop them from dominating this inland sea, but no matter how large a force they set up to bully their Black Sea neighbors, getting out with that fleet will be a lot more difficult than dominating the small pond it sails in.



       




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