US unable to be fully in lockstep with Russian subs: Official
Iran Press TV
Sat Apr 16, 2016 2:24PM
A senior US Navy official has stated that Russia has been deploying combat submarines and missiles in scales that America has issues keeping pace with.
Admiral Mark Ferguson, commander of US Naval Forces in Europe, has told CNN that Russia is deploying new submarines that are harder for the American Navy to track and detect.
He said that is partly due to the NATO military alliance's eastward expansion in the post-Cold War world.
"NATO is viewed as an existential threat to Russia, and in the post-Cold War period, the expansion of NATO eastward closer to Russia and our military capability they view as a very visceral threat to Russia," said the commander.
They are quieter, better armed and have a greater range of operation, noted Ferguson.
"The submarines that we're seeing are much more stealthy. We're seeing [the Russians] have more advanced weapons systems, missile systems that can attack land at long ranges, and we also see their operating proficiency is getting better as they range farther from home waters."
"We cannot maintain 100% awareness of Russian sub activity today," retired Admiral James Stavridis, a former NATO commander, told CNN. "Our attack subs are better, but not by much. Russian subs pose an existential threat to US carrier groups."
The US currently has 53 submarines in its inventory, but because of decommissioning and budget decisions, Ferguson said that figure will drop to 41 by the late 2020s, the report added.
According to CNN, Russia is adding or upgrading some 12 naval bases across the Arctic Circle - expanding its capability to send subs in numbers through the crucial Greenland-Iceland-UK gap into the Atlantic - and closer to US and NATO territorial waters.
The US believes the new activity is designed to achieve multiple objectives, including denying NATO and the US the ability to operate within Russia's so-called "near abroad," the channel added.
On Monday, two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes flew within meters of the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea.
Russia on Thursday denied its aircraft were engaged in reckless or provocative behavior, as claimed by Washington, saying the fighter jets "turned away in observance of all safety measures" after observing the US Navy warship.
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