Russian admiral: Russia's naval defense is practically non-existent
The Russian Navy, which suffered a real defeat during the collapse of the Soviet Union, has still not regained its potential; potential adversaries from NATO countries retain their advantage and are increasing it.
Rear Admiral Vladimir Dudko writes about this in the Independent Military Review, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Russia, let’s be honest, has largely lost its role and place as a great maritime power. The scale of the damage inflicted on our fleet can be assessed at least by these figures. In 1990, 91 submarines (submarines), 88 surface ships (SCs) and 34 boats (SCs) were withdrawn from the Navy, and in 1991 another 33 submarines (of which 15 nuclear-powered), 50 NKs and 27 SCs were withdrawn from service. . In addition, in the period 1991–1998, more than 60% of the most trained and dedicated Navy officers were fired,” the admiral recalls.
“An audit of the naval personnel remaining in stock after the events of the 1990s and XNUMXs led to a disappointing conclusion: Russia’s naval defense is practically non-existent. And this despite the fact that the US and NATO fleets were only strengthening during this period. The available forces of our fleet are not enough even to ensure parity. It is enough to compare the combat composition of the Russian Navy and the navies of other countries – our potential adversaries – using open sources,” states the author.
He draws attention to “the fact of the non-participation of Navy ships in ensuring the security of the President of the Russian Federation at the summit of the heads of state of Turkey, Russia and Iran in April 2018.” “It is unacceptable when the presence of the president of a Great Power outside its borders is not ensured by the forces of the fleet,” writes the admiral.
He believes that Russia will have to rebuild a powerful navy.
“Russia’s strategic position and abundant resources require it to place high priority on strengthening its ocean frontiers. Without access to the sea, our Motherland cannot survive, cannot remain among the world powers, and cannot preserve the unique Russian continental-maritime civilization,” explains Dudko.
Meanwhile, according to him, there is a “land lobby” that is blocking spending on the restoration of the Navy.
“...Many military-strategic and financial programs related to the development of the fleet are marked by limitations and some defects. This cannot be interpreted only as incompetence of higher authorities. We are talking rather about the influences of the land mentality and the political and cultural traditions that have emerged in recent years. In the upper echelons of power, noticeable tension arose between land and sea military-political strategies. On the political stage, this tension manifests itself in the form of opposition from various groups of influence and pressure under the government and the president, in government structures and in the State Duma,” writes the admiral.
The author criticizes the option of “building a defensive fleet, which would consist of small and medium ships, destroyers, submarines and mine positional warfare (mine barrage)”, since such a Navy, in his opinion, does not correspond to the “geopolitical objectives of the state.”
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