Observing Russian Naval Activity

From RIA Novosti:

A task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet will leave its main base in Vladivostok on December 9 to take part in joint naval drills with the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean, a fleet official said on Thursday.

According to the official, the task force will comprise the Admiral Vinogradov, an Udaloy class missile destroyer, a tugboat, and two tankers.

"The task force will participate in the joint naval exercises INDRA-2009 with the Indian navy in January," the source said.

Theh the money part.

The task force will also conduct joint exercises with a task force from Russia's Northern Fleet, led by the Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered missile cruiser, which will arrive in the Indian Ocean after joint drills with the Venezuelan Navy scheduled for December 1.

Russian news reports also indicate that the logistics ship Ivan Bubnov currently with the RFS Pyotr Veliky (099) and RFS Admiral Chabanenko (650) that just completed exercises with the Venezuelan Navy today will return to Sevastopol, and not go to the Indian Ocean.

Basically it is like this. Over the next month the two Russian warships (and the tug!) soon to depart Venezuela will head to the Indian Ocean. Once there, the RFS Pyotr Veliky (099) will join the Pacific Fleet task force led by RFS Admiral Vinogradov (572) for exercises with the Indian Navy. At that time, the RFS Admiral Chabanenko (650) will replace RFS Neustrashimy (712) fighting pirates, and RFS Neustrashimy (712) will return with RFS Pyotr Veliky (099) home to Russia.

This is hardly surprising, the most experienced, best ship in the entire Russian fleet has long been RFS Admiral Chabanenko (650), quite frankly that ship is a workhorse, and has carried the Russian fleet for the 21st century to date. For those who are unaware, Admiral Chabanenko (DDG 650) is the largest surface warship built by Russian in the last 2 decades. You would be hard pressed to find any major Russian activity from the Northern Fleet since 1999 that did not include RFS Admiral Chabanenko (650).

I can't find the article, but it is interesting to note that RFS Neustrashimy (712) reportedly has a French Admiral on the ship, and the Russians have reportedly been doing exercises with the French naval forces in the region. Why would that be interesting? Hmm..., what have the French been doing off the coast of Somalia lately? There are reports that a few ships of Russian interest may be released soon, if we follow the pattern of history, keep an eye on RFS Neustrashimy (712) because it might just pop up in the news in the next few days.