“This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine on January 9. We are talking about the Baltic, Barents and North Seas, as well as in general…”, — write on: armyinform.com.ua
Read for: 2 min. January 9, 2025, 7:21 p.m
the Russian “research fleet” has a huge sabotage and reconnaissance potential, targeting NATO’s underwater infrastructure in critical regions. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine on January 9.
We are talking about the Baltic, Barents and North Seas, as well as the world ocean as a whole. The capabilities and threats posed by Russian research vessels are being explored on the University of Texas platform.
At first glance, the study of the world ocean is a peaceful field of activity, but in the execution of the Russian Federation it poses many risks for the modern world.
Experts from the University of Texas recall the recent incident in the Irish Sea with the research vessel “Amber”, which was intercepted by the Irish Navy while deploying a UAV in the area of vital underwater power and internet cables.
Russia has been using hydrographic vessels for reconnaissance and sabotage against the underwater infrastructure of NATO and EU members for decades. They are supervised by the “research fleet” of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography together with a unit of the Ministry of Defense of Russia called the “Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research”.
In particular, the latter has at its disposal the special-purpose nuclear submarines BS-64 “Podmoskovye” and BS-136 “Orenburg”, research vessels “Yantar” and “Almaz”.
The Russian Navy also has numerous hydrographic vessels designed for sea, river and lake surveys and pilotage work, catamarans and boats, which are often used with a dual purpose.
However, despite all the alleged multifunctionality and technology, most of the vessels of the “scientific fleet of the Russian Federation” were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Soon the Russian Federation will be forced to decommission them without replacing them with new ones.
At the same time, anti-Russian sanctions have significantly narrowed Moscow’s opportunities to modernize and equip “scientists”.
Thus, in the 2017 report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “On the state of the national security of Russia in maritime activities” it was emphasized the terrible condition of research vessels, the average wear of which already exceeded 80%, the average age was 34 years, and the technical condition of the majority of vessels was assessed as unsatisfactory.
As ArmiyaInform reported, the SZR believes that pressure from the US and a negotiating track “from a position of strength” are predicted in Russia.
