Update On Moscow's Club Med -- October 21, 2016

Updates

Later 9:13 p.m. Central Time: see first comment. The US has ten (10) a/c carrier groups and only two are deployed overseas; neither are deployed in the Mediterranean. This is really quite incredible. It appears that President Obama has asked the US Navy to "stand down"; he does not want to confront the Russians and risk a miscalculation between Russia and the US.

Later, 12:05 p.m. Central Time: from Russia Beyond the Headlines -- Russia to establish a permanent naval base in Syria, posted October 11, 2016, that's like ten days ago --

The Russian naval facility in the city of Tartus will be upgraded into a permanent naval base. Military experts believe that the Russian Defense Ministry may set up a detachment of ships in the Mediterranean armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

“The first purpose of the future base that comes to mind is the deployment in the Mediterranean of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier with Su-33 and MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets as well as Ka-52K attack helicopters,” said Dmitry Litovkin, a military observer for the Izvestiya daily newspaper.

Without a base like this, deploying a full-fledged naval detachment in the Mediterranean could take weeks, he added.

“However, now ships with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles can be permanently based on the Syrian shores. And the deployment of a naval detachment at sea will take several hours rather than weeks,” said Litovkin.

Much, much more at the link. 

As one regular reader noted, the "sledgehammer" that Putin is sending to the eastern Mediterranean is not going there simply to "take out" Aleppo. An incredibly prescient reader, I might add.

Not in my house!

 

Original Post

 

With the largest Russian naval operation since the Cold War headed towards the eastern Mediterranean, it was only appropriate to ask if Russia has an eastern Mediterranean port to accept their ships.

I've blogged about this story at various posts (including this one) but I provide updates and track it here.

Back to the original question: does Russia have an eastern Mediterranean port to accept their ships. Well, let's look. From The Moscow Times, almost exactly one year ago, why Russia is expanding its naval base in Syria:

The Russian military is expanding its tiny naval facility at Tartus on the Syrian coast to handle bigger warships and transport vessels amid a general buildup of Russian forces in territory controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday, citing military sources.

The news broke as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew with his military and intelligence chiefs to Moscow on Monday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and discuss ways to prevent accidental clashes of Russian and Israeli forces operating in Syria.

Russia in recent weeks has wrong-footed Israel, the U.S. and Europe by beefing up its supply of military hardware to the Syrian government. News reports have alleged that Russia has deployed forces such as Su-30 fighter jets, tanks, armored vehicles and troops to a government-controlled airfield in Latakia.

To better sustain and supply both its own forces and the Syrian government’s, Russia has deployed some 1,700 military specialists to its small naval repair station at Tartus, 90 kilometers to the south of Latakia — a dramatic increase in personnel at a facility that until recently was staffed by a handful of military men and civilian contractors, Kommersant reported.

“They are outfitting and guarding the facility, and are restructuring the dock,” an unidentified soldier stationed at Tartus told Kommersant, adding that the specialists should be rotated out of Syria in three months.

This was confirmed by an unidentified source in Russia’s General Staff, the military’s highest command authority, Kommersant reported. The General Staff source said that the expansion of Tartus into a full-scale naval base was not connected with any imminent Russian intervention in Syria’s civil war.

Instead, after its expansion, “[Tartus] will simply be able to accommodate first- and second-rank ships from the Russian Mediterranean flotilla,” the source said, referring to the Russian designation for ships ranging in size from large cruisers to destroyers and large landing ships and transports.

This points to a two-pronged vision for the future of Russia’s Syrian naval outpost — currently Russia’s only pit-stop in the Mediterranean, said Dr. Theodore Karasik, a UAE-based military and geopolitical expert.

“The Russian port in Tartus, although small, is a main entry point for Russian equipment to support the Syrian government,” Karasik said. “[However], Russia seeks to expand Tartus not only because of the required throughput necessary to help the Syrian government, but also to increase Moscow’s presence in the eastern Mediterranean.”

So, now we know why Russia's Northern Fleet is headed for Syria. Some rest and relaxation at Moscow's Club Med.

Much more at the link.

Nothing like a war (or an impending war) to renew one's interest in geography.