Russia: blue water power

Wednesday, April 16

On April 4, Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky confirmed that Russia would build 5-6 new aircraft carriers. The move, which Russia's naval commander-in-chief announced in early April, confirms a doctrinal shift towards developing the navy as a 'blue water' power projection force able to deploy forces throughout the world. As such it has significant political, strategic and economic implications.

• Mediterranean deployment. While Russian ships have periodically passed through the Mediterranean, Moscow has not in the past sought to maintain a permanent deployment there. In 2007, the Admiral Kuznetsov exercised in the Mediterranean as part of an unprecedentedly large task force, and former naval Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin expressed his view that Russia needed a permanent presence there.
• Indian Ocean exercises. Military cooperation with India was underlined in 2003 when, in its largest out-of-area deployment for a decade, the Russian navy sent six warships to join the INDRA-2003 exercise in the Indian Ocean. Since then, Russian ships have been regular participants in Indian exercises and, notwithstanding disputes over arms transfers, 2008 looks set to see the largest such deployments yet.
• Arctic control. NATO and the EU are increasingly concerned about the prospect of naval confrontations with Russia over maritime resources. Norway and Russia are at odds over hydrocarbon reserves in the waters around Spitsbergen, for example, and Moscow is trying to assert its claims to the Arctic shelf.
• Flying the flag. Deployments to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and the Arctic have only minimal military implications. Their real significance is that they reflect a growing willingness on the part of Moscow to see its fleet as a political instrument, able to consolidate and draw attention to alliances, underline military revival and support economic claims.