As part of NATO’s Operation “Noble Shield”, the Spanish Navy’s F-100 frigate Álvaro de Bazán monitored the activity and navigation of a Russian Navy Kilo II-class attack submarine in the Eastern Mediterranean. These actions fall within the operations that the Spanish warship has been carrying out as part of NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), which forms part of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force – Maritime (VJTF-M).
Since last February, various units of the Spanish Navy have been monitoring the transit and navigation of Russian vessels in different areas of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. This includes tracking the Russian Navy’s Kilo II (or Improved Kilo) class attack submarine Krasnodar (B-265) since it entered Mediterranean waters in mid-February. On that occasion, its entry into the Mediterranean was closely followed by the patrol vessel Atalaya and the Maritime Action Ship (BAM) Tornado, both of which were deployed on surveillance and deterrence missions in the area.
Recently, it has been confirmed that the Russian attack submarine has continued operating in the region, supported by other vessels. More specifically, Spain’s General Staff of Defense reported that the F-100 frigate “…Álvaro de Bazán also tracked the tugboat Evgeniy Churov, which accompanied the submarine on its transit to the port of Alexandria (Egypt). The monitoring of the merchant vessel ended when both Russian ships parted ways to follow different courses.”
The presence of Russian Armed Forces’ naval and air assets in the Mediterranean remains one of NATO’s key surveillance and monitoring objectives in the region, as it closely follows the evolving situation in Syria and the regime change following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. The country still hosts several facilities that support and sustain the Russian Federation’s presence, including the Tartus Naval Base and the Khmeimim Air Base.
These types of operations, both in the Mediterranean and other regions of Europe, have not been free from tension and incidents between the two forces. One of the most recent incidents involved a French Air and Space Force MQ-9 Reaper drone, which was intercepted by a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 fighter jet while conducting a patrol flight over the Eastern Mediterranean.
Photos: Spain’s General Staff of Defense.
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