The Pentagon is expressing deep concern after three Russian guided-missile cruisers were been deployed to Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea where they are deadlocked in a tense standoff with three NATO carrier strike groups.
The 11,500-ton Russian Slava-class cruisers – named Moskva, Varyag, and Marshal Ustinov – are operating south of Italy and off the coast of Syria.
The cruisers pose a serious complication for the US, Italian and French carrier strike groups that have been operating in the Mediterranean the last several weeks.
Defense officials note that the US and NATO cruisers and destroyers have more sophisticated missile defense systems that should be able to easily outmatch the 1970s and 1980s-era Russian missiles. Still, the US and NATO ships would come under risk if Russia launches massive barrages at them, rendering their defense systems incapable of countering the attack.
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said last week that the US Navy is prepared for any interaction or confrontation with the Russian Navy in the region.
“We operate in and around the Russians and the Chinese all the time. So this is nothing new,” he said.
“Given this current situation, the chance for miscalculation is greater. That’s why we train to a very high standard so that when we find our ships in situations like this the [commanders] act in a way that’s not provocative and that we communicate very clearly that we’re not cowboys out there. Our intentions are to be responsible professionals out there.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
