Situation Report: Russia conducts ‘unprecedented’ naval exercise in the central Pacific
International | June 18, 2021
As Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden met in Geneva, the Russian Navy is conducting a naval exercise 300-500 miles off the coast of Hawaii.
It is the first time at least since the Cold War that Russia has conducted naval exercises in the central Pacific Ocean, according to Russian officials. Zvezda, a state-owned network run by the Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of the exercise.
The exercise included surface ships, submarines, anti-submarine aircraft, and long-range bombers that practiced tracking “submarines and ship groupings of mock enemy,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“To my experience, and knowledge with consultation with other naval intelligence officers a generation older than me, the Soviet/Russian Navy never conducted such a large-scale naval exercise in waters 300-500 miles east of Hawaii,” retired Navy Capt. Jim Fanell, the former Pacific Fleet intelligence director said.
“Simply put, it is unprecedented,” Fanell continued…
(Excerpts from the Center for Security Policy)