Paul Goble
Staunton, December 26 – A detailed
survey of Russian naval operations in support of Russian ground operations in Syria
concludes that the Russian fleet can deal with small local wars but lacks the
equipment, weapons, and in particular pilots needed for any larger operation,
shortcomings that Konstantin Sivkov says were obvious to other countries as
well.
Writing in the authoritative Voenno-Promyshlenny kuryer, the retired captain
who often serves as a commentator on military and especially naval affairs says
that the shortage of pilots seriously limited the use of Russia’s only aircraft
carrier and meant that its two losses were more serious than they should have
been (lenta.ru/news/2017/12/26/navy/).
The Russian fleet
showed that it has “the most contemporary arms” and “a quite high level of
training” that are capable of “fulfilling tasks in limited wars and armed
conflicts,” but its shortage of weapons and personnel were serious even in the Syrian
case and were “obvious not only for Russian but also for foreign military specialists.”
Russia simply has too small a fleet
for operations far from shore, too few personnel and too few weapons, and an
aging collection of ships which is not being replaced in a timely fashion, the
commentator says. Indeed, the fact that
the Kuznetsov had to be on station so
long highlights all these problems.
The fleet’s rate of fire and air
operations were far too low, and “that shows that Russia does not have
sufficient reserves” even of such critical weapons as cruise missiles. Instead, when it comes to the most advanced
weapons in general, the Russian fleet has far too few to sustain even a limited
conflict for any length of time.
“Our fleet demonstrated,” Sivkov
concludes, “that it is capable of fulfilling the tasks laid on it completely
but up to now only in extremely limited local wars and armed conflicts.” Any larger conflicts at the present time are
beyond its capacity.
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