Three Russian warships and a nuclear-powered submarine performed drills in the Atlantic Ocean en route to Cuba on Tuesday, June 11. The drills are part of what is believed to be a Moscow military flex amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and Kazan nuclear-powered submarine simulated missile strikes on mock enemy ships. The ministry said that the drills included computer-simulated attack on targets hundreds of miles away.
The Admiral Gorshkov has been used to deploy Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles in the past. However, those were not part of the drills in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday.
The Russian fleet stationed in Cuba on Wednesday, just 100 miles south of Florida’s Key West, before it departs to Venezuela on June 17, according to U.S. intelligence. The naval exercises are the first Russian air and naval maneuvers done in concert in the Caribbean since 2019. Cuba said that such visits are standard practice from countries friendly with Havana. Cuba maintained that the Russian ships and submarine carry no nuclear weapons and present no threat to the region.
The White House called the Russian drills a clear representation of Moscow’s displeasure with U.S. support for Ukraine. However, the White House said that it does not “expect any imminent threat or any threat at all” to national security in the region.
Nevertheless, the U.S. military is closely monitoring the activity. A half dozen 8A-Poseidon aircraft, also known as “Submarine Hunters,” converged on the Russian flotilla as it sailed past the East Coast on Tuesday. The 8A-Poseidon is designed for anti-submarine warfare.
Meanwhile, two American destroyers and two ships with sonar equipment were reportedly shadowing the Russian submarine. Another destroyer and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter trailed the three Russian ships.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that “heightened naval and air activity near the United States” is expected this summer, before “a global Russian naval exercise this fall.”
CNN reported that cruise ship passengers did snap pictures of the Russian flotilla, just 90 miles off of the U.S. coast.
Russia’s drills are taking place at the same time as NATO nations are conducting BALTOPS 2024, an exercise hailed as the premier amphibious and naval maneuver drills in the Baltics. New NATO member Sweden is also taking part in the 53rd iteration of the enormous drills.
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