- 16 May 2019 08:08
#15005064
As is known, the United States annually conducts «Red Flag-Alaska» air force exercises in cooperation with NATO countries in the state of Alaska at the Eielson base. Officially, the exercises are aimed at developing and improving the air combat skills of military pilots, crew and operational support personnel of the United States and its allies. Among the participants of the exercises stands South Korea, Japan, Israel, Sweden, New Zealand, India, and since 2018 Finland, which has the longest common border with the Russian Federation and, which has so far maintained neutrality with respect to Russia. It should be noted that according to Finnish experts, unhealthy activity associated with military preparations may create a possible threat from Finland and NATO, which only uses its geographic location and already has access to strategic command, influencing decision-making.
It is obvious that the conduct of the exercises is evidence of militaristic preparations and the unwillingness of the Pentagon’s leaders to reckon with certain trends of contemporary international development. For example, Washington is not satisfied with the activity of Moscow in the Arctic region, which in the world is considered as one of the main potential areas of the future military conflict because of the huge deposits of oil, gas and advantageous location of the Russian Northern Sea Route. And in January 2019, the US Navy Minister Richard Spencer even announced his intention to strengthen the US position in the Arctic and respond to the «excessive claims» of Russia. Moreover, Americans today are creating the necessary infrastructure for the operational transfer of troops and in the Baltic States, against the background of the supposedly existing threat from Russia. Thus, it becomes clear that Washington is trying to demonstrate its readiness to Moscow in the event of an armed conflict in the "ice" region.
But, despite the fact that Russia in the polar latitudes is «surrounded» by NATO countries and comes into contact with Alaska, in a military sense, Moscow is several times ahead of Washington. But Russia has repeatedly stressed that Moscow did not and does not have plans to attack any of the NATO countries. Moreover, at the last meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland on May 7, 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, unlike the American delegation, spoke only about the environment, the situation and rights of indigenous peoples, and not a word about the impending struggle for the Arctic resources and the new frontier that opens to the world, while US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, against the background of general peace-loving reports, outlined the contours of the «ice» conflict, saying that «it’s time for America to show itself as an Arctic nation. This region has become an arena for global powers, arenas st for the competition».
However, Russia, although not wishing to stir up conflict, does not intend to cede its influence in the region. Thus, the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to consolidate his advantage with gigantic icebreakers of the class «Leader» with a displacement of 72 thousand tons, which are able to walk along the Northern Sea Route all year round, to prick ice 4 meters thick and leave behind a 60 meters wide passage that will allow the largest merchant ships to be carried along the northern waters. The commissioning of the three super icebreakers is scheduled for the second half of the 2020s.
Furthermore, unique hybrid hybrids are built at Russian shipyards, combining the qualities of an icebreaker, tugboat and patrol ship, capable not only to prick ice up to 1.5 meters thick, but also to carry on board Caliber missile launch systems, a 100-mm cannon, anti-submarine helicopter Ka-27 in a special hangar and two high-speed combat boats «Raptor» to prosecute the trespassers and board their ships. The first ship of this class, «Ivan Papanin» must descend from the stocks in 2023.
It is obvious that the United States does not have such a force as Russia does, and there will not be another dozens of years to come, no matter how much Washington tries to show its «power». It should be recalled that in April 2019, the Americans signed an agreement on the construction of three heavy icebreakers, with a displacement of 17.7 thousand tons, capable of piercing the ice of three meters thickness, the characteristics of which, by the way, are still much weaker than the Russian ones. According to preliminary data, the first new icebreaker will be available to the US military only in 2024. Therefore, Americans are forced to start almost from scratch with only a modest dilapidated icebreaker «Polar Star», which by that time would be out of order and the United States would be left without an icebreaking fleet at all, so, according to experts, it’s pointless to talk about American «power».
It is obvious that the conduct of the exercises is evidence of militaristic preparations and the unwillingness of the Pentagon’s leaders to reckon with certain trends of contemporary international development. For example, Washington is not satisfied with the activity of Moscow in the Arctic region, which in the world is considered as one of the main potential areas of the future military conflict because of the huge deposits of oil, gas and advantageous location of the Russian Northern Sea Route. And in January 2019, the US Navy Minister Richard Spencer even announced his intention to strengthen the US position in the Arctic and respond to the «excessive claims» of Russia. Moreover, Americans today are creating the necessary infrastructure for the operational transfer of troops and in the Baltic States, against the background of the supposedly existing threat from Russia. Thus, it becomes clear that Washington is trying to demonstrate its readiness to Moscow in the event of an armed conflict in the "ice" region.
But, despite the fact that Russia in the polar latitudes is «surrounded» by NATO countries and comes into contact with Alaska, in a military sense, Moscow is several times ahead of Washington. But Russia has repeatedly stressed that Moscow did not and does not have plans to attack any of the NATO countries. Moreover, at the last meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland on May 7, 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, unlike the American delegation, spoke only about the environment, the situation and rights of indigenous peoples, and not a word about the impending struggle for the Arctic resources and the new frontier that opens to the world, while US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, against the background of general peace-loving reports, outlined the contours of the «ice» conflict, saying that «it’s time for America to show itself as an Arctic nation. This region has become an arena for global powers, arenas st for the competition».
However, Russia, although not wishing to stir up conflict, does not intend to cede its influence in the region. Thus, the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to consolidate his advantage with gigantic icebreakers of the class «Leader» with a displacement of 72 thousand tons, which are able to walk along the Northern Sea Route all year round, to prick ice 4 meters thick and leave behind a 60 meters wide passage that will allow the largest merchant ships to be carried along the northern waters. The commissioning of the three super icebreakers is scheduled for the second half of the 2020s.
Furthermore, unique hybrid hybrids are built at Russian shipyards, combining the qualities of an icebreaker, tugboat and patrol ship, capable not only to prick ice up to 1.5 meters thick, but also to carry on board Caliber missile launch systems, a 100-mm cannon, anti-submarine helicopter Ka-27 in a special hangar and two high-speed combat boats «Raptor» to prosecute the trespassers and board their ships. The first ship of this class, «Ivan Papanin» must descend from the stocks in 2023.
It is obvious that the United States does not have such a force as Russia does, and there will not be another dozens of years to come, no matter how much Washington tries to show its «power». It should be recalled that in April 2019, the Americans signed an agreement on the construction of three heavy icebreakers, with a displacement of 17.7 thousand tons, capable of piercing the ice of three meters thickness, the characteristics of which, by the way, are still much weaker than the Russian ones. According to preliminary data, the first new icebreaker will be available to the US military only in 2024. Therefore, Americans are forced to start almost from scratch with only a modest dilapidated icebreaker «Polar Star», which by that time would be out of order and the United States would be left without an icebreaking fleet at all, so, according to experts, it’s pointless to talk about American «power».
- By ingliz
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