This Is Not Just "Demonstration Of Flag"...

 ... albeit this is how demonstration of force was always called in naval affairs. 

МЕХИКО, 2 июл — РИА Новости. Корабельная ударная группа Северного флота ВМФ России зашла в порт венесуэльского штата Ла-Гуайра, передает корреспондент РИА Новости. Она состоит из атомной подводной лодки "Казань", фрегата "Адмирал Горшков", спасательного буксира "Николай Чикер" и танкера-снабженца "Академик Пашин", который зашел в порт первым. Командует группой начальник оперативного управления Главного штаба ВМФ вице-адмирал Михаил Неупокоев. Как сообщили в пресс-службе Северного флота, во время стоянки экипажи российских кораблей смогут отдохнуть и ознакомиться с местными достопримечательностями. Уточняется, что деловой заход продлится несколько дней, после чего корабельная группа во главе с фрегатом "Адмирал Горшков" продолжит выполнение поставленных задач в акватории Атлантического океана, в их числе: демонстрация флага и обеспечение военно-морского присутствия в оперативно важных районах дальней океанской зоны.

Translation: MEXICO CITY, July 2 – RIA Novosti. The naval strike group of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy entered the port of the Venezuelan state of La Guaira, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports. It consists of the nuclear submarine Kazan, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker and the supply tanker Akademik Pashin, which entered the port first. The group is commanded by the head of the operational department of the Main Headquarters of the Navy, Vice Admiral Mikhail Neupokoev. According to the press service of the Northern Fleet, during the stay the crews of Russian ships will be able to relax and get acquainted with local attractions. It is clarified that the business call will last several days, after which the ship group led by the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" will continue to carry out its assigned tasks in the Atlantic Ocean, including: demonstrating the flag and ensuring a naval presence in operationally important areas of the far ocean zone.

 

Keep in mind that in this particular case the "flag" consists of a mix of 48 missiles of Kalibr, Onyx and Zircon variety. Add here Venezuela, Caribbean and shit and you get the picture. For now, Kazan is logging more surface hours demonstrating, indeed, that there could be something else underwater. Now get the load of this, and I mean THE load. 

Предполагается, что "субмарина выполнит испытательные пуски гиперзвуковой ракеты "Циркон" с надводного и подводного положения", сообщил ранее другой собеседник агентства.  КРОНШТАДТ, 26 июня. /ТАСС/. Атомная подводная лодка (АПЛ) "Иркутск" проекта 949АМ Тихоокеанского флота (ТОФ) после ремонта и модернизации вышла на заводские ходовые испытания. Об этом ТАСС сообщил источник в кораблестроительной отрасли в кулуарах Международного военно-морского салона (МВМС) "Флот-2024". "Ремонт и модернизация АПЛ "Иркутск" на одном из дальневосточных заводов практически завершены. Лодка вышла на заводские ходовые испытания", - сказал он.

Translation: It is expected that “the submarine will test launch the Zircon hypersonic missile from surface and submerged positions,” another agency source said earlier. KRONSTADT, June 26. /TASS/. The nuclear submarine "Irkutsk" of project 949AM of the Pacific Fleet (PF) after repair and modernization entered factory sea trials. A source in the shipbuilding industry reported this to TASS on the sidelines of the International Naval Show (IMMS) Fleet-2024. “The repair and modernization of the Irkutsk nuclear submarine at one of the Far Eastern plants is almost complete. The boat has entered factory sea trials,” he said.

The funniest thing about deeply modernized good ol' pr. 949A lovingly known in the fleet as Loafs, and in NATO as Oscar-II, is that nobody knows the exact number of missiles it carries now. It is clear it is way more that 30 but how many? The base number is 48 but is it more? Some say it is 72. Well, look at those lovely Loafs...

This is K-132 Irkutsk before modernization. This is the worst nightmare of any surface fleet and shipping. 

But here is West's worst nightmare. Although I speak about for years, let me rub this in again:

Russia becomes ‘high income’ country – World Bank. Moscow’s economic growth has defied Western sanctions 

The worst nightmare having two components.

1. Russia is beginning to live better than most EU countries. Soon Russians will live better than ANY EU country and will be on average reaching the US, allowed for climatic and geographic peculiarities. 

2. This is the worst one: while definitely capitalist, Russia is very social and, in fact, a mixed economy which is performing amazingly and that is the key--Russian economy is NOT neo-liberal economy and that drives globalist types insane. 

Well, what can I say--too bad, they should have studied real economics and history instead of wasting their time in Ivy League degree mills. Try to explain to any economics Ph.D from Harvard what real war is and how it shapes humanity for tens of thousand of years. But I repeat myself.

Some Juicy Naval Porn From Russia.

Gremyashchiy fights air-defense battle with both Redut missile system and main caliber gun. You can see the poor Combat Department-2 (BCH-2, missile-artillery department) commander, lieutenant-captain, sweating it out. I assume lieutenant-commander, Captain 3rd Rank, next to him is F-2 (Missile-artillery flag specialist) of the brigade. So, the fun is had by all, not really, LOL. 

This class of the corvettes of Russian Navy is immensely powerful for its size and now we know that 3M22 Zircon is near. These corvettes are also carriers of this weapon and Admiral Gorshkov continues to launch Zircons as if there is no tomorrow. Now, the land target was hit 350+ kilometers away with the missile exceeding M=8. 

So, it looks like Zircon is entering first line service smoothly, since MoD confirmed that all Zircon launches have been successful. I guess the message here is very clear. Well, that's the portion of naval porn for ya.

Zircon Flies Again.

3M22 launched again couple of days ago by Admiral Gorshkov, Russia's MoD provided video today. Reached M=8+, hit the floating target at 450+ kilometers range.  

Pay attention to how carefully cloudy weather is chosen for launches. In related news Kazan launched 3M14 couple of days ago at the target at 1000+ kilometers, now she is getting ready for the launch of Zircon. Generally, one can see from the videos of two Zircon launches which were provided by Russia's MoD the insane acceleration which is achieved by the missile upon the exit from VLS (3C14).

Excellent And Warm Piece On Sergei Gorshkov.

By Indian military professional Shishir Upadhyaya for RT today.

Naval cadets around the world think of Sergey Gorshkov as the man who said ‘Better is the enemy of good’ and transformed the Red Fleet into the powerful Soviet Navy. Little known fact is that he ‘fathered’ the Indian Navy, too. 

There are very few post WW II military leaders globally who did command as much interest and professional respect as Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, after all Time magazine put his face on the cover in its 1968 Man of the Year issue for a reason.

Gorshkov laid down the foundation for the modern naval combat already in 1960s and 1970s when recognized the immense power of new weapon system known as anti-shipping cruise missile. He was primarily a proponent of Sea Denial which, obversely, meant the loss of Sea Control by the mighty US Navy. Soviet Navy, through Gorshkov, was betting on missises which would destroy the backbone of the US Navy--US aircraft carriers. Indian Navy applied those views fully to its own operations. 

So why did the Indian Embassy in Moscow host the celebration of what would have been Gorshkov’s 110th birthday recently? Because the legendary admiral who built the Soviet Navy into a Cold War powerhouse also transformed the Indian Navy into a modern sea power to be reckoned with. “Gorshkov built the Soviet navy... and it was because of his efforts and skill, that the Soviet Union became a global power,” India’s ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma told RT, adding that the Indo-Russian naval relationship is a rare and “unique example where something that started in the last century, 55 years ago, is still continuing today.” This special relationship can be directly traced to Gorshkov, who laid the foundation for the ever-evolving modern military relationship between New Delhi and Moscow.

Early 1980s one could see Indian naval officers and NCOs and their wives around the campus of my Alma Mater--the commanding core of Chakra  K-43 (Soviet Charlie-class, project 670 SSGN) were being trained for service at this nuclear sub in Indian Navy. The crews were also rotated through other naval academies and Soviet training facilities for submariners. So, the words of the Indian Ambassador are not just run-of-the-mill pleasantries. Today, India continues to be a recipient of Russian naval (and other military) technology, most important manifestation of which being a deployment of Russian-build Pr. 11356 Talwar-class frigates armed with Russian-Indian Brahmos anti-shipping and land-attack missiles and expecting to be armed with hyper-sonic version of Brahmos by late 2020s. In general, it is a good piece and a very warm one towards the memory of famous Soviet Admiral who, in the end, did change naval combat as we know it.

My New Piece On Naval Strategy And China.

At Colonel Lang's blog at which I have a privilege and honor of being a contributor.  

Late Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Sergei Gorshkov at the peak of the Soviet naval development in late 1970s to mid-1980s continued to stress his seemingly simple idea, first officially articulated in his 1976 treatise The Sea Power of the State, that modern (Soviet) navy must be balanced.[1] Gorshkov's idea of balanced fleet was that of a navalist, who envisioned modern navy capable to conduct global operations ranging from amphibious landings, to global anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, to nuclear deterrent. Yet, throughout Gorshkov's long tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy one platform above everything else remained dominant in his thinking—a submarine. Unsurprisingly, 1968 Time magazine cover featured image of Admiral Gorshkov superimposed on the background with a submarine at the periscope depth. With all the Soviet Navy's impressive development of its surface fleet at that time, these were primarily submarines which USSR developed at a break-neck speed and eventually equaled or surpassed US Navy's submarine forces not only in quantity but in quality too, with even US Navy grudgingly admitting in 1988 that project 971 (NATO Akula-class) nuclear submarine being the best in the world.[2]  

This is an excerpt. 

Admiral Kasatanov Is Off To Trials.

Second (first series) frigate of the project 22350 (Admiral Gorshkov-class) Admiral Kasatanov is on its way to trials.

ST.PETERSBURG, December 21. /TASS/. The second Project 22350 frigate AdmiralKasatonov built at the Severnaya Verf Shipyard in St. Petersburg in northwestRussia has entered sea trials, the Shipyard’s press office told TASS on Friday."The frigate Admiral Kasatonov has taken to the sea for trials. They willlast until the New Year," the press office said. During the trials, theshipbuilders will check the warship’s systems: from the propulsion unit toelectrical equipment and the navigation, damage control and crew rescue system.The frigate Fleet Admiral Kasatonov is the second (the first serial-produced)Project 22350 warship. The Project was developed by the Severnoye DesignBureau. The lead warship of this series, the Admiral Gorshkov, was delivered tothe Navy in the summer of 2018 and the construction of two more frigates (theAdmiral Golovko and the Admiral Isakov) continues at the slipways of theSevernaya Verf Shipyard in St. Petersburg. Project 22350 frigates are expectedto become the Russian Navy’s most advanced warships in their class. Thesefrigates displace 4,500 tonnes and can develop a speed of 29 knots. They arearmed with Oniks and Kalibr missiles and the Poliment-Redut air defense missilesystem.

This is a milestone event for Russian Navy when one considers what went into the birth of this class of the ships after decades of gross under-funding and, sometimes, direct sabotage of Russian Navy. These are powerful ships with a state-of-the-art air-defense complex Poliment-Redut and a comprehensive electronics suite. Of course, these handsome ships pack a very serious anti-shipping and land-attack punch, capable to launch both Kalibr family missiles as well as P-800 Oniks. 

Kasatonov Off To Trials

Here is also TV report (in Russian) on this event:

At this stage no one knows if this class will be limited to 6 hulls with much heavier project 22350M "so called" frigates coming after them but, after issues with Poliment-Redut have been sorted out, there is very little doubt that these seem to be very nice and powerful ships. In related news, as CNBC based on their "sources" (Hm!) reports:

WASHINGTON — Russia has conducted another successful test of its ship-based hypersonic missile, a weapon the United States is currently unable to defend against, according to two people with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report. The people, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said Russia has carried out five total tests of its ship-based hypersonic missile since 2015. The last known test of the device, dubbed “Tsirkon,” was successfully conducted Dec. 10 and reached a top speed of Mach 8, approximately eight times the speed of sound, or about two miles per second. “What we are seeing with this particular weapon is that the Russians designed it to have a dual-purpose capability, meaning, it can be used against a target on land as well as a vessel at sea,” one source explained. “Last week’s successful test showed that the Russians were able to achieve sustained flight, a feat that is crucial in the development of hypersonic weapons.”

I don't know what those CNBC's "sources" are, but there is very little doubt that hyper-sonic missiles of non-Kinzhal aero-ballistic variety are coming very soon to ships and submarines of the Russian Navy. There is absolutely nothing which can defend against salvo of such missiles and that does change, as I wrote for years, the naval combat completely thus overturning many doctrinal assumptions by fervent navalists, especially in relation to aircraft carrier-centricity of the fleets. This was, actually, clear already in 1980s. Will Gorshkov-class be able to carry Zircon (3M22) once it gets procured? Most likely. But even in present configuration of their weapons' suites these ships are truly first post-Soviet Russia's, from scratch, major combatants who outgun any ship in the frigate-class in the world. Not too shabby, if one asks me.   

UPDATE (12/22). Yes, it looks like CNBC got this one right this time, since TASS' sources in military-industrial complex did confirm this: 

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russia has made over ten test launches of the Tsirkon seaborne hypersonic missile against naval targets at a distance of over several hundred kilometers since the beginning of its trials, a source in the defense industry told TASS on Friday.The missile’s trials began about four years ago and are continuing now from the coastal stand, the source said. "Overall, more than ten test launches have been performed against targets at sea at a distance of several hundred kilometers," the source said. The hypersonic missile "repeatedly destroyed designated naval targets at the hypersonic speed," the source added, declining to give the date of the latest trials. TASS has no official confirmation of this information yet.

The most important in this piece is this:

As was reported earlier, Tsirkon missiles will be launched with the help of the universal shipborne vertical launching systems currently used for Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles. Such systems are mounted, in particular, on Project 20380 corvettes, Project 22350 frigates and Project 885 Yasen-class submarines.

That pretty much sums up a general direction Russian Navy is taking. Not that we didn't know or justifiably assumed it, but the ability of VLS UKSK to launch 3M22 gives a good grasp of the "weight" of the salvo by Russian fleet.