Putin Greenlights Permanent Deployment in Mediterranean; Russian Navy to be Modernized
Russian ships and submarines armed with the Kalibr cruise missiles will be permanently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. This was announced today during a meeting between the President and military representatives. Vladimir Putin continued his series of daily meeting on the development of the defense sector. Today, we highlight the Navy, state defense procurement efforts, the construction of new ships, military exercises, expeditions, and, generally speaking, the defense of the country in every corner of the seven seas.
Alexander Balitsky will tell us more.
The ministers and factory directors are all wearing civvies on their way to a military meeting with the President. That means that they will speak about the defense industry and state procurement. Medvedev proposed that Deputy Minister of Defense Yury Borisov supervise this area in the new government as a vice prime minister, but he still went to Putin's residence in uniform, and so did the Chief of General Staff.
–Yury Ivanovich, have you already accepted the deal?
Yury Borisov:I haven't even turned it in yet.
Putin asked for a report on the completion of the previous tasks, but first, he focused on the modernization of the Navy.
Vladimir Putin: "High combat readiness and effectiveness of the Navy is one of the most important factors of the military and economic security of the country and the maintenance of a strategic balance. All in all, it's a vital instrument for protecting our national interests. And also, as always, as usual, it's a display of our flag in the key regions of the world's oceans".
This flag is seen more and more often in the North Atlantic, the Asia-Pacific region, and, of course, in the Mediterranean. Putin highlighted the precise action by the crews during the operation in Syria.
Vladimir Putin: "The cruise missiles strikes carried out by the ship-based aircraft were very effective; they inflicted serious damage upon the terrorists. Important infrastructure sites were destroyed. However, with the persistent danger of attacks by international terrorists in Syria, our ships, armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, will be permanently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea".
This footage gives everyone a pretty good indication of what Russian-made Kalibr missiles are like. The President has declared that arming ships with such smart missiles should be a top priority, as should the strengthening of the naval part of the Strategic Nuclear Forces. There's no such thing as a one-man army, and the same goes for the navy.
Thus, Putin has set out to develop multifunctional naval groups and conduct regular military exercises, with over 100 expeditions scheduled for this year.
Vladimir Putin: "I'd like you to pay particular attention to coordinating the actions of these groups with the Aerospace Forces and other units and branches of the Armed Forces. Of course, working within the framework of the state arms procurement program, we'll continue equipping the Navy with the most advanced arms, communications, reconnaissance, and targeting systems. Just like before, the quality and timetable requirements of the state arms procurement tasks are to remain the strictest possible".
The Navy will get six new ships by the end of the year, and four more completely renovated ones. The construction of five missile submarines is also going according to plan. International military experts are already actively discussing the promising Russian aircraft carrier project known as Shtorm, which is to become the first fifth-generation aircraft carrier in the world. It has a capacity of 90 aircraft. And as the authoritative Military Watch magazine writes, it will give the Russian Navy an advantage over any other.
The series of busy daily meetings on the modernization of the Army and Navy started in Sochi, as is traditional for the President's May schedule. This brainstorming session doesn't just try to solve the operational problems of the defense sector, but rather work on the prospects: developing a military defense strategy. And with such a schedule, the meetings will continue until Friday night.
Alexander Balitsky, Stanislav Ponomarenko, Valery Glushakov, Petr Rovnov, Vesti, Sochi.