by Jack Ray » Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:10 pm
The title is a quote from the Russian Navy chief in 2004.
A Warship's Unintended Message
The Russian vessel was to be a show of the navy's renewed power. Then, oil prices sank.
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 22, 2008
By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press
MOSCOW - The voyage of the Peter the Great - the cruiser scheduled to arrive in Venezuela next week with a squadron of other Russian warships - was meant to showcase the Kremlin's renewed ability to project naval power abroad.
But the arrival of the 24,000-ton, nuclear-powered vessel and its escorts may mark the end of an era of rising ambitions for the Russian navy, not its beginning.
Russia's plans to conduct exercises in the Caribbean for the first time since the Cold War were made before the global financial crisis mauled its energy-based economy. Plunging oil prices could end Moscow's aspirations for a stronger presence in the Western Hemisphere.
The Peter the Great, a missile destroyer, and two support vessels from Russia's Northern Fleet set off for Venezuela in late September, in what was seen as a show of the Kremlin's anger over the U.S. dispatch of warships to deliver aid to Georgia after its August war with Russia.
The squadron's arrival next week is timed to coincide with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's planned trip to Venezuela and other Latin American nations.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a critic of Washington, wants Russia to help cut U.S. sway in the region. But some experts question the military value of the exercise.
"A couple of ships struggling to make it to South America aren't going to strengthen Russia's posture against the United States," said Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst.
Medvedev vowed in September that Russia would follow up on the Venezuela cruise with others worldwide.
But, said Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst with the independent Moscow-based Institute for Political and Military Analysis, "Russia simply lacks ships for the purpose."
The construction of the Peter the Great began before the 1991 Soviet collapse and was completed a decade later.
It's the largest ship in the Russian fleet and the only surface vessel powered by a nuclear reactor, which gives it huge range and autonomy.
The cruiser had a deadly accident in 1996 when a high-pressure steam line ruptured, killing four seamen. In 2004, the navy chief said the ship could explode at any moment.
Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov quickly said he was misquoted, and some media attributed his statement to a conflict with the cruiser's captain.
Of all branches of the Russian military, the navy suffered most after the Soviet collapse. Sharp cuts in military spending left many Russian warships rusting berthside and forced the navy to scrap dozens of comparatively modern vessels.
Booming oil prices during President Vladimir V. Putin's eight-year tenure led to steady increases in military spending, allowing the navy to repair some vessels and train new crews. But Russia's navy is still a shadow of what it was in the Soviet era - and now, oil prices have tumbled.
"Most big surface warships which were built during the Soviet times have closely approached the end of their service time," Khramchikhin said. "It can't be extended indefinitely unless they want to see them sink in the middle of their cruise."
The Kursk nuclear-submarine catastrophe, which killed all of the sub's 118 crew in August 2000, and a steady string of other deadly accidents highlighted the poor state of the Russian navy.
This month, 20 people suffocated and 21 were injured aboard a new nuclear-powered submarine when a firefighting system switched on by accident and pumped the sub full of Freon gas, displacing the vessel's oxygen.
The title is a quote from the Russian Navy chief in 2004.
[quote]
[size=150][b]A Warship's Unintended Message
Th[i]e Russian vessel was to be a show of the navy's renewed power. Then, oil prices sank[/i].[/b][/size]
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 22, 2008
By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press
MOSCOW - The voyage of the Peter the Great - the cruiser scheduled to arrive in Venezuela next week with a squadron of other Russian warships - was meant to showcase the Kremlin's renewed ability to project naval power abroad.
But the arrival of the 24,000-ton, nuclear-powered vessel and its escorts may mark the end of an era of rising ambitions for the Russian navy, not its beginning.
Russia's plans to conduct exercises in the Caribbean for the first time since the Cold War were made before the global financial crisis mauled its energy-based economy. Plunging oil prices could end Moscow's aspirations for a stronger presence in the Western Hemisphere.
The Peter the Great, a missile destroyer, and two support vessels from Russia's Northern Fleet set off for Venezuela in late September, in what was seen as a show of the Kremlin's anger over the U.S. dispatch of warships to deliver aid to Georgia after its August war with Russia.
The squadron's arrival next week is timed to coincide with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's planned trip to Venezuela and other Latin American nations.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a critic of Washington, wants Russia to help cut U.S. sway in the region. But some experts question the military value of the exercise.
"A couple of ships struggling to make it to South America aren't going to strengthen Russia's posture against the United States," said Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst.
Medvedev vowed in September that Russia would follow up on the Venezuela cruise with others worldwide.
But, said Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst with the independent Moscow-based Institute for Political and Military Analysis, "Russia simply lacks ships for the purpose."
The construction of the Peter the Great began before the 1991 Soviet collapse and was completed a decade later.
It's the largest ship in the Russian fleet and the only surface vessel powered by a nuclear reactor, which gives it huge range and autonomy.
The cruiser had a deadly accident in 1996 when a high-pressure steam line ruptured, killing four seamen. In 2004, the navy chief said the ship could explode at any moment.
Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov quickly said he was misquoted, and some media attributed his statement to a conflict with the cruiser's captain.
Of all branches of the Russian military, the navy suffered most after the Soviet collapse. Sharp cuts in military spending left many Russian warships rusting berthside and forced the navy to scrap dozens of comparatively modern vessels.
Booming oil prices during President Vladimir V. Putin's eight-year tenure led to steady increases in military spending, allowing the navy to repair some vessels and train new crews. But Russia's navy is still a shadow of what it was in the Soviet era - and now, oil prices have tumbled.
"Most big surface warships which were built during the Soviet times have closely approached the end of their service time," Khramchikhin said. "It can't be extended indefinitely unless they want to see them sink in the middle of their cruise."
The Kursk nuclear-submarine catastrophe, which killed all of the sub's 118 crew in August 2000, and a steady string of other deadly accidents highlighted the poor state of the Russian navy.
This month, 20 people suffocated and 21 were injured aboard a new nuclear-powered submarine when a firefighting system switched on by accident and pumped the sub full of Freon gas, displacing the vessel's oxygen.
[/quote]