Russian naval visit doesn’t bother DoD
Staff and wire reports
Posted : Tuesday Sep 9, 2008 7:11:21 EDT
The Defense Department seemed unaffected Monday by an announcement from Venezuela and Russia that Russian warships would sail to the Caribbean this winter for exercises with the Venezuelan fleet — the first-ever such move by the Russian navy.
Pentagon officials did not express particular concern over the announcement from Caracas. “We’re aware of the announcement made in Venezuela,” said Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, “and we’ll see how it goes.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the Kirov-class battle cruiser Peter the Great, one of the world’s largest surface warships, would lead three other warships and a flight of anti-submarine aircraft on the visit by November or December.
The group will likely also include support vessels and at least one fleet tug, as was the case when the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov led a Russian surface deployment in the Mediterranean last year. Most of the ships in the Russian surface fleet are from the Soviet era.
One defense official acknowledged that the prospect of the Russian navy operating in the Western Hemisphere “is a little Cold War-retro,” adding, “the Russians have been making overtures not only to Venezuela but other countries in the region.”
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday that his country and Venezuela decided to stage the naval exercises before Russia’s war this summer with Georgia. But a week before the announcement, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his nation would respond to the presence of what he called NATO “battleships” in the Black Sea — including the U.S. destroyer McFaul, the command ship Mount Whitney and the Coast Guard cutter Dallas — which have been delivering humanitarian aid to Georgia.
Putin and Russian military commanders have spoken aggressively about the NATO surface group, which has entered what they consider their sphere of influence. In late August, Russian Adm. Eduard Baltin told a state news agency the European and U.S. ships were “not battle-worthy” and that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet could sink the NATO group “in 20 minutes.”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has become close to Russia after major purchases of military hardware, also spoke aggressively when he announced the planned Russian visit, anticipating that U.S. officials would be upset.
“Go ahead and squeal, Yankees,” he said in a national broadcast Sunday.
The third cruiser is in retirement. Essentially if funds become available it will be back, otherwise it's done.